A subcommittee of the US House of Representatives is demanding that Sony answer tough questions related to the cyber attacks on the Playstation Network that forced the shutdown of the network"s servers. According to the New York Times, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade wants Sony to answer 13 specific questions about the cyber attack and related matters. Sony has until Friday, May 6 to respond to the subcommittee"s questions.
The letter, which can be read in full on the New York Times web site, does ask several questions that Sony has already answered. However, it also brings up some tough questions that Sony has yet to respond to. One of them is,
"Your statement indicated you have no evidence at this time that credit card information was obtained yet you cannot rule out that possibility. Please explain why you do not believe credit card information was obtained and why you cannot determine if the data was in fact taken."
Sony has said repeatedly that there is no evidence that credit card numbers for Playstation Network users had in fact been taken from the cyber attacks that occurred on April 20. It has also said that the credit card info was encrypted, unlike the personal info that Sony has admitted was in fact taken during the cyber attacks. However, it is still urging users to check their credit card and account statements to make sure their accounts are not being used by outsiders.
Meanwhile, the Playstation Network itself is still down two weeks after the cyber attacks. Sony has pledged to restore at least some services for its customers later this week. However, as we reported on Monday, the cyber attacks have now affected the PC MMO business of Sony Online Entertainment. That division shut down its servers on Monday and admitted later that day that personal info was obtained from its servers. It also admitted that a small number of older credit card numbers from overseas customers were taken but that the current credit card info for the vast majority of its customers remains safe.