Bono Mack to Appear on C-SPAN to Discuss PlayStation Security Breach

Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, will appear on C-SPAN Saturday to continue in a discussion about serious data breaches at Epsilon and Sony's PlayStation Network that combined have leaked consumer information on millions, if not billions, of people.

Bono Mack, CA-45, represents Murrieta and other Riverside County cities in Congress. She is chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, and it is in that role that she will appear on C-SPAN’s “The Communicators." The 30-minute show will air on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. PDT. It will be repeated on C-SPAN 2 on Monday at 5 a.m. PDT and 5 p.m. PDT.

A nationally-televised hearing led by Bono Mack was held this week, to seek answers about what caused Sony's security breach April 17-19, in which a hacker obtained personal information on more than 70 million users. Names, addresses, birth dates, login information and possibly credit card information of millions of online users were leaked.

The breach caused a shut down of Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems, which consumers use to play online gaming and access music, movies, sports and TV shows. As of May 5, the system had not been restored to users.

In a statement to the media today, Bono Mack said the incident “has the potential to become the ‘Great Brinks Robbery’ of cyber attacks."

At the hearing, which included testimony by the Secret Service and Federal Trade Commission, Bono Mack expressed concern that not enough is being done to protect American consumers.

“In recent years, sophisticated and carefully orchestrated cyber attacks–designed to obtain personal information about consumers, especially when it comes to their credit card information–have become one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in the United States and across the world," Bono Mack said.

Epsilon, which provides email and marketing services for major companies such as Best Buy, Capital One, Ritz Carlton and Citi, admitted a security breach March 31. Millions of customer email addresses were obtained. The company states no personal information other than email addresses were leaked.

“Like their customers, both Sony and Epsilon are victims, too. But they also must shoulder some of the blame for these stunning thefts, which shake the confidence of everyone who types in a credit card number and hits enter. E-commerce is a vital and growing part of our economy. We should take steps to embrace and protect it – and that starts with robust cyber security.

In a statement May 5 from Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer, the top executive apologizes and states: "I know some believe we should have notified our customers earlier than we did. It’s a fair question.

"Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had— or had not—been taken," Stringer wrote.

Sony has taken out a $1-million identity theft insurance policy per user.

"To date, there is no confirmed evidence any credit card or personal information has been misused, and we continue to monitor the situation closely," Stringer continued.

As chairman of the subcommittee, Bono Mack told C-SPAN that she is working on comprehensive legislation which, among other things, will establish a national standard for data security and data breach notification.

“While I remain hopeful that law enforcement officials will quickly determine the extent of these latest cyber attacks, they serve as a reminder–as well as a wake-up call–that all companies have a responsibility to protect personal information and to promptly notify consumers when that information has been put at risk.  And we have a responsibility, as lawmakers, to make certain this happens," Bono Mack said.