According to a report from Kyodo News, citing official Japanese government documentation, Sony Computer Entertainment knowingly delayed telling the public about the extent of an attack on its PlayStation Network so as not to âbewilderâ its customers.
The report, submitted to the Japanese government and obtained under a freedom of information request, says that SCE was able to confirm internally on April 25 (American time) that a âfairly large amount of dataâ had been exposed to hackers. A press release issued the next day, however, only stated that Sony could not ârule out the possibilityâ that personal information had been compromised.
Itâs also claimed that PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai gave incorrect information in a statement issued on May 1, in which he said Sony didnât learn about the extent of the attack until April 26 (American time), a full day later than the company confirmed matters internally.
While being out by a day seems minor, that discrepancy combined with the gap between what Sony knew internally and what it told people publicly still raises the possibility â and this is why the Japanese government is looking into this â that, as Kyodo News puts it, Sony âdeliberately attempted to downplay the seriousness of the situation by not fully disclosing informationâ.
Sony knew data breach was massive but withheld full disclosure [Kyodo news, subscription required]
