Sony CEO on massive PSN hack: Sorry for the "inconvenience"

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - Howard Stringer, the CEO of Sony, apologized Thursday for the "inconvenience" caused by the massive data breach that compromised 77 million PlayStation Network gaming accounts worldwide.

In a blog post, Stringer sought to reassure customers, saying the company is focused on investigating and fixing the hacker attack.

"We are absolutely dedicated to restoring full and safe service as soon as possible and rewarding you for your patience," Stringer wrote in his first public comments since Sony shut down its PlayStation Network on April 20.

Sony first disclosed the attack last week, saying that credit card data, e-mail addresses and other personal information from 77 million user accounts may have been compromised.

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

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

Sony began investigating unusual activity on the PlayStation network on April 19; it did not notify gamers of the breach until April 26.

"This has been an inconvenience and of course a risk to our personal data and credit cards, but it's a risk we always forget we take whenever we put our information in the digital world," Girl Gone Geek blogger and gamer Jamila Rowser told CBS News' Crimesider on Friday. "Despite the hacking, I'm still a PlayStation girl."

Complete coverage of the PlayStation network attack on Crimesider