Credit Card Identity Theft Victims Getting Help, Answers from Sony

The more than 100 million credit card users whose personal data was stolen from Sony are finally getting help and answers from the international electronics giant a full month after its database security was breached.

Sony International, Sony Network Entertainment Division President, Tim Schaff, will be at Capitol Hill on June 1 to testify before a House subcommittee about the theft of millions of credit card numbers from the gaming and electronics company’s customer databases.

This agreement to appear before Congress is an abrupt change of direction for Sony as it tries to repair its image following the breach in its PlayStation Network. Up until now, the company has refused to testify in person, choosing instead to rely upon a series of press releases, news conferences and written responses to Congress.

Sony’s written responses were to Representative Mary Bono Mack, chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. Mack’s subcommittee has been looking into online security and had asked Sony to appear before it to answer questions about the thefts of credit card numbers.

Subcommittee aid Ken Johnson said in an email to reporters that this was a welcome change of events. "While Chairman Bono Mack remains critical of Sony's initial handling of the data breaches, she also is appreciative that the company has now agreed to testify. The Chairman firmly believes that the lessons learned from both the Sony and Epsilon experiences can be instructive and guide us as we develop comprehensive data protection legislation. We expect to introduce that legislation, which will provide new safeguards for American consumers, in the next few weeks," wrote Johnson.

Sony says that the customer data was stolen during two attacks on its databases. The first in April resulted in up to 77 million PlayStation Network subscribers’ personal and credit card information being stolen and the second earlier this month saw the same happen to up to 25 million Sony online customers.

To date, Sony has said it does not know who hacked its system and that it contacted its customers about the possible breach as soon as it had learned of it. Now, it says it is working with the FBI to investigate the attack and has implemented new securities to prevent future breaches.

Sony has likewise recently reached out to its US customers to offer free enrolment in an identity theft protection program. Sony said in a press release that this program will in part offer cyber monitoring and surveillance of the Internet to detect exposure of its customers’ personal information, access to licensed private investigators and identity restoration specialists and a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user.

Follow @CreditDonkey or write to Andrew Green at andrew@creditdonkey.com

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