Kaz Hirai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sony Computer Entertainment America, has provided some answers to the US Congress in response to questions a subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade had presented the publisher in regards to the recent PSN cyber-attack. Hirai-san explained that there are four key details governing Sony’s response to the attack. These are: “Act with care and caution”, “Provide relevant information to the public when it has been verified”, “Take responsibility for our obligations to our customers”, and “Work with law enforcement authorities”. They also informed the subcommittee of the central points quoted below.
- Sony has been the victim of a very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber attack.
- We discovered that the intruders had planted a file on one of our Sony Online Entertainment servers named “Anonymous” with the words “We are Legion.”
- By April 25, forensic teams were able to confirm the scope of the personal data they believed had been taken, and could not rule out whether credit card information had been accessed. On April 26, we notified customers of those facts.
- As of today, the major credit card companies have not reported any fraudulent transactions that they believe are the direct result of this cyber attack.
- Protecting individuals’ personal data is the highest priority and ensuring that the Internet can be made secure for commerce is also essential. Worldwide, countries and businesses will have to come together to ensure the safety of commerce over the Internet and find ways to combat cybercrime and cyber terrorism.
- We are taking a number of steps to prevent future breaches, including enhanced levels of data protection and encryption; enhanced ability to detect software intrusions, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns; additional firewalls; establishment of a new data center in an undisclosed location with increased security; and the naming of a new Chief Information Security Officer.
Most of this does not come as news to the millions that have been following the continually developing story of the PSN security breach. Anyone who’s credit/debit card is linked to a Sony account will be happy to know that no illegal usage has been reported, however. Still, you probably already have investigated the matter on your own.
Finally, Sony explained to Congress the details of its “Welcome Back” program. MTB has previously explained the details of said program. But to recap, users have as-yet-unspecified free downloads and 30 days of free service coming their way. Certain aspects of the system are expected to incrementally go back online starting this week.
[Source: Official Playstation Blog]
