US Senator Demands Answers from Sony over Playstation Data Breach

[Black-Ops-]

Hey everyone at NGU!!

As most of you all know already "Playstation Network" is down and it's been down going on 7 day's and in other places it's been 7 day's.

Anyways, we all seen so many threads about the PSN being down, or whatever the case may be regarding Sony and other things. You can add this piece of news to the pile as it's quite interesting to read!

Below, from the US Senator himself is a letter he sent Sony, personally to CEO/President Jack Tritton.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

(Hartford, CT) – Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America today demanding answers over the company’s failure to notify millions of customers of a data breach in the PlayStation Network on April 20, 2011. Blumenthal noted that a breach of such a widely used service – estimated by news reports as having 50 to 75 million customers – immediately “raises concerns of data privacy, identity theft, and other misuse of sensitive personal and financial data, such as names, email addresses, and credit and debit card information.”

“When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised… I am concerned that PlayStation Network users’ personal and financial information may have been inappropriately accessed by a third party,” Blumenthal wrote in the letter. “Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach. Although the breach occurred nearly a week ago, Sony has not notified customers of the intrusion, or provided information that is vital to allowing individuals to protect themselves from identity theft, such as informing users whether their personal or financial information may have been compromised.”

Blumenthal called for Sony to provide PlayStation Network users with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services for two years, the costs of which should be borne by the company. Additionally, he argued that affected individuals should be provided with sufficient insurance to protect them from the possible financial consequences of identity theft.

The text of the letter follows:

April 26, 2011

Mr. Jack Tretton
President and CEO
Sony Computer Entertainment America
919 East Hillsdale Boulevard
Foster City, CA USA 94404

Dear Mr. Tretton:

I am writing regarding a recent data breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network service. I am troubled by the failure of Sony to immediately notify affected customers of the breach and to extend adequate financial data security protections.

It has been reported that on April 20, 2011, Sony’s PlayStation Network suffered an “external intrusion” and was subsequently disabled. News reports estimate that 50 million to 75 million consumers – many of them children – access the PlayStation Network for video and entertainment. I understand that the PlayStation Network allows users to store credit card information online to facilitate the purchasing of content such as games and movies through the PlayStation Network. A breach of such a widely used service immediately raises concerns of data privacy, identity theft, and other misuse of sensitive personal and financial data, such as names, email addresses, and credit and debit card information.

When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised. Additionally, PlayStation Network users should be provided with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services, for two years, the costs of which should be borne by Sony. Affected individuals should also be provided with sufficient insurance to protect them from the possible financial consequences of identity theft.

I am concerned that PlayStation Network users’ personal and financial information may have been inappropriately accessed by a third party. Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach. Although the breach occurred nearly a week ago, Sony has not notified customers of the intrusion, or provided information that is vital to allowing individuals to protect themselves from identity theft, such as informing users whether their personal or financial information may have been compromised. Nor has Sony specified how it intends to protect these consumers.

PlayStation Network users deserve more complete information on the data breach, as well as the assurance that their personal and financial information will be securely maintained. I appreciate your prompt response on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Richard Blumenthal
United States Senate

Sources:



If you took the time to read all of that, what are your thoughts and do you agree with what he's saying, because I know I do.

Feel free comment below if you care to, I'm looking forward to any responses!

[[MOD]iTruceFret]

lol. Sony's response? 'We're doing everything we can right now'. /what we've heard for the past 7 days you arrogant cocksuckers. When MY credit card information is at risk, you DO NOT take your sweet ass time to tell me 'well uhhh...CC information might have been leaked' 7 DAYS LATER you ****ing fools. Shame on you, Sony. A ****ing shame.

[ImOnMyPS3]

Yes i agree sorta

[ziGuNz-]

Great post. Some rep coming your way:claps:

[itzCodzilla]

Sony needs to get this fixed, its really bugging me that I can't go play COD, I might have to pick a copy for Xbox if this doesn't end soon.

[Black-Ops-]

Wow, thank you for posting this. I never knew a senator wrote Sony about this.

So that means....the government does care.

:carling:

Yeah, It sure looks like they do. LOL!

Thanks for quoting me by the way! :derp:

[Man of Steel]

Odd how he didn't care until Sony issued a statement admitting personal information was compromised. Where the hell was he last week, oh wait, it was a holiday.

The last thing Sony needs right now is the US Government sticking their nose in. If you want to see something made unnecessarily completed, take 10 times more time to complete and still get no results, ask an American politician to get involved but if he can at least wait until everything is up and running, I'll be happy.

[blitz_7]

I see fines coming Sony's way, especially if someone comes forward proving their financial info has been used.

[BlackHayze]

Finally Sony's little douchebag act of shitting all over its consumers has come back to haunt them. I hope this kind of irresponsibility really damages them. I am on the side of anyone who files a law suit against Sony, and sincerely hope that the government gets more fully involved by leading an investigation into Sony's business practices and ends up fining them for some wrong doing on their part that is found out about during this investigation.