Data-security research firm suggests PSN breach could cost Sony over $24 billion

The Ponemon Institute, a data-security research firm, has estimated that the total cost of research by Sony over the PSN breach could cost the firm over $24 billion.

According to the security firm, speaking with Forbes, the cost associated with a firm investigating a malicious or criminal act averages out to around $318 record using 2010 figures.

Once you include the 77 million registered PSN accounts, that sum could go over the $24 billion mark.

According to Sony figures, PSN users are present in 59 countries, and 36 million of those are in the US and South America. Europe has over 32 million registered PSN accounts, and Asia 9 million -the majority of which are in Japan.

"Simply put, [this is] one of the worst breaches we've seen in several years," added Josh Shaul, chief technology officer for Application Security Inc., who believes Sony may not know just yet which files were accessed.

Sony admitted it was a possibility that purchase history and credit card address information could be stolen, but theft of the card's 3-digit security code on the back could not be gathered from PSN.

"They indicated that they're worried about it, which is probably a very strong indication that everything was stolen," Shaul added.

Over in the UK, ICO is currently investigating whether Sony was unaware there was a possibility of a breach of personal information, and if so, the firm could impose a fine on the console maker of around £500,000.