Amazon.com Server Said to Have Been Used in Sony Network Attack

Amazon.com Inc.’s Web Services cloud- computing unit was used by hackers in last month’s attack against Sony Corp.’s online entertainment systems, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Even so, the breach at Amazon is likely to call attention to concerns some businesses have voiced over the security of computing services delivered via others’ remote servers, referred to as cloud computing.

"The subpoena will give law enforcement a history of the transactions," or who had access to the specific Internet address at the time, Hilbert said. "The search warrant will get them more detailed information, including payment information and which credit card was used."

Amazon Web Services leases computing space to companies just as Netflix Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. so they don’t have to buy their own servers to store data and handle a surge in visitors. The unit brought in about $500 million in revenue in the past year, according to estimates from Barclays Capital and Lazard Capital Markets, or about 1.5 percent of Amazon’s $34.2 billion in 2010 sales. The company doesn’t disclose revenue from Web services.

Sony offered clients a free year of identify-theft protection afterwards its PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment networks were crippled by the attack. Thieves may have stolen credit-card, debit records and other personal information from clients of Sony Online Entertainment, a third service. The New York Attorney General’s office has subpoenaed Sony, according to a person familiar with the probe.

Network security breaches are part of a trend that saw the costs of such invasions jump 48 percent, to an average of $318 per compromised record last year, according to a March report by the Ponemon Institute.

Malicious attacks in the U.S. are on the rise. They climbed 7 percentage points in 2010, with data breaches costing U.S. businesses an average of $7.2 million per incident, according to the Ponemon Institute report. The study found that about 85 percent of all U.S. companies have experienced one or more attacks.