PlayStation data breach may put Sony in a spot

Sony Corp could be expected to come in for tough legal action following its belated disclosure of one of the biggest online data breaches ever.

In the US, several members of Congress took up the incident in which hackers stole names, addresses and possibly credit card details from users of Sony's PlayStation Network, to call for tougher laws for personal information protection.  

A US law firm filed a lawsuit in California on behalf of consumers and requested it to be treated as class action.

The UK government has initiated a probe into the incident which put credit card information at risk.

According to UK  Information Commissioner's Office the company has been contacted and investigations were on as to whether Sony violated laws that require it to safeguard personal information. The commissioner's investigation would partly depend on whether Sony stored user information in Britain.

While the Japanese electronics giant pulled back the product on 19 April, the public did not come to know about the data theft until Tuesday.