What Sony did consumers after NHP nightmare? (PC World)

What responsibility Sony has Playstation Network for $ 77 million customers who discovered this week - days after the fact - that their personal data, account information online and credit card information was stolen by identity thieves?

"When I see something like that, I want to shout," said expert Florida identity theft Denise Richardson. "It's like a gold mine of information."

Position of Sony businesses generally respond by affected users offer a year of free credit monitoring - something any consumer has the right to the already United States. "For me, it's nothing," Richardson said. "" "". "Thieves are sitting back laughing that."

Sophisticated data thieves exceeded stolen credit cards and use personal information such as dates of birth and home address to open bank accounts, to obtain medical services or collect others unemployment checks. The fact that many Sony 77 million compromised accounts to include adolescents and young adults it worse, she said, because they know perhaps not that their data was compromised for years, the potential liability of cumulative Sony.

"What happens depends on how much damage comes," predicted Richardson. "It is will cost Sony billion, is my guess."

Unfortunately, it is people to cancel credit cards, change passwords, and watch their email and other communications with care and perhaps think twice about type in trains of personal info on every Web site he seeks. If you are looking for try our Hack of NHPS survival guide.

Sony, explains data thieves may have collected numbers card credit and expiry dates with the user names, physical and email addresses, handle NHP and password online, Date of birth and purchase history and password tips.

If Yes, they know your mother maiden name, favorite musician and what elementary school you attended. And they know your password, so if you are the kind of person who uses the same password again and again, you could be in a series of nasty surprises in the coming months.

But no worries, the giant consumer electronics said today ' hui - the three-digit security code found on the back of your credit card was not included into the breach!

"That", expert on the law of the computer said Mike Godwin, "is like the lowest defence never."

Adding a second code to three figures with a 16-digit credit card number "relying on security practices that are a couple of old decades", said Godwin, who was the first advocate of staff at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Assuming that it is enough to wave off the coast of thieves info is symptomatic of a larger issue: "the whole system is broken."

Sony will have to admit that he violated the trust of its customers and "early Earth", said Godwin. "They have to reorganize their complete system of private life and the paper not only in their error."

Following the rupture, Sony is facing multiple legal and regulatory challenges. Godwin adds, "extremely comprehensive governmental action would actually help", although Sony worldwide customer complicates the possibility that regulatory measures could do no good.