MJ's unreleased tracks 160m pounds stolen by hackers

London, Mar 5 (ANI): Hackers have broken into Sony Music and stolen Micheal Jackson's entire back catalogue, including an unreleased collaboration with Will.I.Am.

The cyber-crooks, who infiltrated the Sony Music archive illegally, downloaded more than 50,000 digital files that were worth 160 million pounds.

Record company bosses paid 156 million pounds to the late singer's estate in 2010 for the catalogue, including unheard material from studio sessions when the superstar recorded 'Off The Wall', 'Thriller' and 'Bad'.

"Everything Sony purchased from the Michael Jackson estate was compromised," the Daily Express quoted a source as telling the Sunday Times.

"It caused them to check their systems and they found the breach. There was a degree of sophistication. Sony identified the weakness and plugged the gap," the source said.

The haul is also said to include a duet with the late Freddie Mercury and the 'Black Eyed Peas' rapper.

The attack was discovered weeks after hackers targeted Sony's PlayStation Network in April 2011, but was only confirmed by a Sony Music representative on Saturday. (ANI)