LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sony says credit card data of PlayStation users may have been stolen in an intrusion that has caused its PlayStation Network to be put out of commission for the last week.

The company shut down the network, which connects players in live game play worldwide, last Wednesday after it says account information for certain players was compromised.

It says it has hired an outside security firm to investigate what happened and has taken steps to rebuild its system to provide greater protection for personal information.

Sony Corp. says an unauthorized person obtained information including players' names, addresses, birth dates, email addresses, passwords and log-in names. The company says that although it has no evidence credit card information was taken, it says "we cannot rule out the possibility."

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