The US-based PlayStation Network users will now be able to register for a free Identity Protection service thanks to an arrangement made by Sony with a company named Debix. On May 3rd, Sony promised all customers affected by the recent break-ins into the PlayStation Network system, free identity theft protection from Debix for one year. The company is now delivering on that promise, and users can sign up for the identity protection starting today. As Sony explained in an email sent to every active PSN customer: Sony has arranged, at no charge to eligible PlayStation®Network and Qriocity account holders, for twelve months of this service to be provided by Debix to those who choose to enroll. In order to be eligible, account holders must be residents of the United States with active accounts as of April 20, 2011. If you currently own a PlayStation Network account, you can sign up by following the link on the email (or by clicking here if you haven’t received the email yet). If your account recently expired then you are still eligible as long as your account was active by April 20, when the first attack took place. All customers have the option to sign up until May 28. Debix’s AllClear ID PLUS protection, which would otherwise cost $9.95 per month, is a comprehensive identity theft protection service. It gives customers live monitoring for possible frauds, live customer support if there’s any attack and up to $1 million identity theft insurance in case disaster happens. According to the company, Debix is chosen by 9 out of 10 privacy professionals. It is still unclear what kind of benefits PlayStation Network users will see in other countries since this deal is only meant for US-based customers, but we expect it to somewhat similar to this one. For those of you who don’t know, Sony was first attacked on April 20th of this year when Sony confirmed its PlayStation Network service had been broken into. Since then, there have been many successive attacks, not only to the PlayStation Network, but to other Sony services as well, such as Sony Ericsson’s Canadian eShop site yesterday.Reportedly, Sony has already lost $171.4 million as a result of the attacks, including the costs of fixing the service and refunding its customers. This weights in as part of a $208.1 million loss this fiscal year due to the hacks and the earthquake that happened in Japan earlier this year. What is to come in the future to Sony’s services is unclear, but lets hope that the worst is already behind us. Meanwhile, for those of you who qualify, be sure to grab your free Debix identity protection. As usual stay tuned for more news and info by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and/or subscribing to our RSS feed. Authors: