Hackers to take aim at Sony... again

Hackers are preparing to target Sony with another major cyber attack because of the way it handled the first attacks last month, according to new reports.

The hackers spoke about told reporters from tech website CNET that it was planning a third major attack this weekend against Sony's official website. The conversation took place over Internet Relay Chat.

Should the planned attack succeed, it would be the latest blow in a series of devastating security breaches of Sony's servers over the past month.

Sony first pulled the plug on its PlayStation Network on April 19th, but waited a full 7 days to disclose that it was because of a security breach instead of a technical problem.

Then, on Monday Sony said data from nearly 25 million additional online gaming accounts may have been stolen from its Sony Online Entertainment service.

To add insult to injury, the group plans to publicize information they are able to copy from Sony's servers, which could include customer names, credit card numbers, and addresses, according to the source.

In a recent blog post, Sony acknowledged the criticism that the company was slow to inform customers, but defended the company's handling of the breach.

Sony has been the victim of a very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyberattack designed to steal personal and credit card information for illegal purposes, Sony Computer Entertainment chief Kaz Hirai told US Congress.

But experts contend that the fault belongs to the company because it hasn't taken the proper steps to secure its network.

Dr. Gene Spafford of Purdue said key parts of Sony's PlayStation Network ran on Apache servers that were unpatched and had no firewall installed.

This was reported in a forum known to be frequented by Sony employees, he said, though no changes were made in the months leading up to the attack.

Lawmakers were also unaffected by Sony's overture.

This is unacceptable, Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) said. What about the millions of American consumers who are still twisting in the wind because of these breaches? They deserve some straight answers, and I am determined to get them.

Bono Mack noted that the company first disclosed the data breach on a company blog, putting the burden on consumers to search for information instead of accepting the burden of notifying them.