FUN WORLD

Following the data breach in the PlayStation Network, U.S. Senator Richard Blumentha lhas called on Sony to provide PlayStation Network users -- there are more than 60 million accounts worldwide -- with financial data security services.

Meanwhile, Sony released a clarification on its sequence of events.

On Tuesday, Sony admitted that an unauthorized person has hacked into users’ accounts on Sony’s PlayStation Network, accessing such information as names and addresses and possibly credit card information. Details can be found on the PlayStation blog.

The PlayStation Network has been down since April 20.

Later Tuesday, Patrick Seybold, senior director, corporate communications & social media, wrote a second blog post as a clarification to Sony’s earlier message to customers. The post explains: “There’s a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumers’ data being compromised. We learned there was an intrusion April 19th and subsequently shut the services down. We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon.”

In an April 26 letter to Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, Senator Blumenthal said: “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. Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach.”

Senator Blumenthal called for Sony to provide customers 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.” He also asserted that affected customers should be provided with “sufficient insurance to protect them from the possible financial consequences of identity theft.”

Sony has posted frequently asked questions about PlayStation Network and Qriocity -- which has also been down since April 20--on its blog.

Related, Sony also reported in the FAQ that Sony Online Entertainment services “are currently available, but they did experience a service interruption due to an external attack.” The FAQ relates that an investigation is ongoing