Things just aren't getting any easier for Sony. In addition to a subpoena from New York and a lawsuit from a Canadian firm, a security expert has accused the manufacturer of knowing about weaknesses with its network software for months before the PlayStation Network security breach.

The Consumerist has the story of Dr. Gene Spafford, a professor at Purdue University who testified in front of Congress yesterday. Spafford claims that Sony's Apache web server software had not been updated and had no firewall, leaving huge holes in Sony's security. He also says that this problem had been "reported in an open forum monitored by Sony employees" as much as two or three months before the recent hacking problems that have brought down PSN.

It's a little unclear from the write-up how this information got out onto an "open forum" or if it's to be trusted, but if this is true, it's a pretty damning accusation of Sony's commitment to online security before the breach.

[silly image via Small Biz Technology]