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TOKYO (AFP) – Sony module expose info of its interior probe into a massive thieving of individualized accumulation from users of its PlayStation Network on Sunday, plus a timetable for bringing the meshwork backwards into action, it said.

The electronics colossus said Sat it would hold a programme conference on the section severance of the online network, which haw hit participating the thieving of assign bill info and which it said this week was carried discover by hackers.

The PlayStation Network and Qriocity streaming penalization assist were closed downbound on Apr 20 after what Sony described as an "external intrusion" and remain offline as the consort upgrades section and entireness with Federal investigators.

The United States, Britain, Australia and Hong Kong are investigating the hacking and thieving of individualized accumulation from the network, which has 77 meg users worldwide.

A US House of Representatives commission weekday sent a honor to Kazuo Hirai, chair of Sony Computer Entertainment America, with questions on the accumulation breach.

"Given the amount and nature of individualized aggregation known to hit been taken, the potential harm that could be caused if assign bill aggregation was also condemned would be quite significant," said the honor from a commission of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which was posted on the Internet.

Sony has said users' assign bill accumulation was encrypted but could not conception discover the existence that bill accumulation was obtained by hackers.

The committee also asked Sony to vindicate why it believes assign bill aggregation was not condemned despite existence unable to watch the literal scale of the theft.

"The fact that coding was existence utilised on the assign bill accumulation is to be welcomed -- as it reduces the chances of stolen aggregation existence utilised for fraud," choreographer Cluley, grownup technology consultant at cyberspace section firm Sophos, said on his blog.

"However, there ease remains the discourse about just how brawny the coding is that Sony used."

Britain's Information Commissioner's Office said it had contacted Sony, while Australia's Privacy Commissioner Timothy colonist said he had launched an investigation.

"We're sight more and more now aggregation existence held globally, and it's more functionary upon organisations to make trusty they do hit brawny section systems in locate to protect that information," he told broadcaster ABC early this week.

Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner Allan Chiang said he was probing the severance and met with local Sony official Katsuhiko Murase who told him 400,000 Hong Kong PlayStation Network user accounts were involved.

He said Murase told him the statement aggregation compromised includes the name, address, country, telecommunicate address, birthdate, PSN countersign and login, and PSN online ID of users, but there was no grounds assign bill accumulation was taken.

Sony is existence sued in a US court by gamers who hit accused the consort of existence neglectful and breaching its contracts with PlayStation Network users.

The consort has not indicated whether it has identified a offender in the intrusion.

Internet vigilante group Anonymous had vowed retaliation against Sony for attractive legal action against hackers who cracked PS3 defences to change console operative software.

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