Congress Seeks Answers From Sony Over PSN Attack

A subcommittee of the House of Representatives is demanding that Sony provide very specific information about the nature of its PlayStation Network security breach, asking the company why it waited six days to inform its customers. According a letter addressed to Sony chairman Kazuo Hirai that was obtained by the New York Times, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade is seeking answers to thirteen very particular questions by no later than this Friday. Among the information sought is how Sony became aware of the breach, why it waited to inform its customers, why it does not believe credit card information was obtained, and how many PSN account holders provided their credit card information to the company. "Given the amount and nature of the personal information known to have been taken, the potential harm that could be caused if credit card information was also taken would be quite significant," wrote the committee, in a letter signed by chairman Mary Bono Mack and ranking member G.K. Butterfield. The letter was dated Friday, and some of the subcommittee's questions were addressed during Sony's press conference on Sunday, including a timeline of the relevant events and some of the steps the company is taking to prevent a similar breach in the future.