Reports of Credit Cards Being Sold Surface as FBI, DHS Get Involved with PSN Investigation

Update: You can count Congress among those who want to know more about Sony's actions over the last week-and-a-half. The U.S. House Energy Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade (which falls under the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce) has sent a letter to Sony boss Kaz Hirai requesting a variety of information. Noting that a hearing is coming up on May 4 to discuss data theft, the Subcommittee wants to know, among other things, how and when Sony became aware of the breach, when it notified authorities, why it waited to inform PSN users of the breach, and what leads it to believe credit card data has not been stolen. It wants its questions to be answered by May 6.

Original Story: Sony stated on Wednesday it was working with a law enforcement agency to help its investigation into last week's PlayStation Network breach that resulted in 70+ million users' personal data being stolen. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's cyber crimes unit, based in San Diego, has confirmed it's involved as has the Department of Homeland Security. This development comes amidst reports of a list up for sale which contains up to 2.2 million credit card numbers acquired in the attack.

The breach has been posited a number of times by Sony as being "malicious" and a "criminal act." It's clearly not the only one who believes so, given the two government agencies' involvement. The FBI confirmed to Kotaku yesterday that it's been in contact with Sony and is looking into the matter. "The FBI is aware of the reports concerning the alleged intrusion into the Sony on line game server and we have been in contact with Sony concerning this matter," said FBI special agent Darrell Foxworth. "We are presently reviewing the available information in an effort to determine the facts and circumstances concerning this alleged criminal activity."

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