5 of the biggest-ever credit card hacks

The spring of 2011 was pure hell for Sony (SNE), when the company suffered multiple hacks across different divisions.

The worst of the breach came through Sony's PlayStation Network. It noticed an "external intrusion" on its systems between April 17 and 19 affected its PlayStation Network and its media streaming service Qriocity. It pulled the plug on both services on April 20 and told the world two days later.

Then, on April 27, Sony announced personal information and perhaps credit card numbers had been stolen in the PlayStation Network and Qriocity breaches. That put sensitive information at risk for a whopping 77 million customers.

Those proved to be just the first two hacks in a series of attacks on the company, including a breach of Sony Online Entertainment that involved personal information but not credit card details.

NEXT: Target: 40 million