I gave Sony a light spanking yesterday over its new Sony Android Honeycomb tablets. But today, I’m pulling out the two-by-four with the nail through it to consider the PlayStation Network security breach. To misquote a now aging internet meme, Sony, you dun goofed big time…
The PlayStation Network has been down for five days and counting. In that time Sony pushed out several updates telling users that it was dealing with an external attack on its systems and was working to rebuilt the PlayStation Network. It wasn’t until yesterday though, that the company revealed that personal information has been accessed and, possibly, that credit card data may have been compromised.
It took Sony, five days to make that vital discovery. That’s five days in which whoever breached PlayStation Network security has had free reign to do what they will with large amounts of personal data.
Look at the the list of items Sony says the unknown assailants have grabbed: name, birthday, billing address, mailing address, email address, PSN username, PSN password, purchase history and security questions. If you’ve purchased items on the PlayStation Network in the past, it says your credit card number, pin code and expiration date may also have been revealed.
That stack of information is essentially a scammer’s dream. If you’re one of those people who’ve been worrying about that encrypted iPhone location data issue, the PlayStation Network data exposure will probably make your head explode.
Sony is having to warn customers that there is a possibility that malicious individuals might phone then or send them correspondence to their home address. Sure that’s not likely but it is pretty unsettling. Sony hasn’t protected its customers properly. Whatever it claims, that amount of data should not have been so easily gobbled up by an intruder.
Remember, Sony is a company which time after time, with firmware update after firmware update, has trumpeted security as one of the big reasons for kicking out new code. The PlayStation Network outage is epic level incompetence.
Sony dragged its feet in letting customers know what the hell was going on and followed the irritating train company strategy of thanking customers for their “patience” and apologising for the “inconvenience”. It’s even suggesting customers “check their credit reports”.
That word “inconvenience” doesn’t come near to describing the colossal pain in the arse that some users will have had to deal with. Sony should feel ashamed of its actions and inaction and needs to offer customers recompense and fast.
If you need more info on the PlayStation Network security breach, try our story, the Sony statement and the Sony FAQ.
