Two men face charges in last year's theft of the singer's entire back catalog, which includes unreleased collaborations. Sony’s PlayStation Network major outage last year was not the only damage done by hackers. Michael Jackson’s entire back catalogue of more than 50,000 music files, worth some $250 million, was stolen as well, it has been revealed.The hack was traced to the U.K., according to a report in British daily The Sun, and two men aged 25 and 26 appeared in court last week in regard to the theft. Both men reportedly denied the charges and were allowed bail. They were arrested last May and are due to stand trial in January 2013.In April 2011, hackers stole details of more than 77 million gamers on the Sony PlayStation Network, which led to lengthy downtime of the network and a serious dent in Sony’s reputation and pockets of around $165 million.The attack on the Michel Jackson files happened shortly after the PSN hack and outage, and this is the first time it has been reported. The 50,000 music files have an estimated worth of $250 million, after Sony paid some $395 million for the seven-year rights to the songs following Jackson’s death in 2009. Sony’s compromised materials include unreleased duets with artists such as the late Freddie Mercury and Black Eyed Peas singer Will.i.am. The work of other artists with Sony was affected as well, including Jimi Hendrix and Avril Lavigne.An unnamed source at Sony told the British paper that the Jackson estate was told about the hack, but it wasn’t made public because there was no customer data involved, unlike the PSN attack. Follow Daniel Ionescu and Today @ PCWorld on Twitter. Related content feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions brandpost Unmasking ransomware threat clusters: Why it matters to defenders Similar patterns of behavior among ransomware treat groups can help security teams better understand and prepare for attacks By Joan Goodchild Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Cybercrime news analysis China’s offensive cyber operations support “soft power” agenda in Africa Researchers track Chinese cyber espionage intrusions targeting African industrial sectors. By Michael Hill Sep 21, 2023 5 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks Critical Infrastructure brandpost Proactive OT security requires visibility + prevention You cannot protect your operation by simply watching and waiting. It is essential to have a defense-in-depth approach. By Austen Byers Sep 21, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe