PSN Problems Earn Sony Telling Off from UK Government

[Logan Westbrook]

PSN Problems Earn Sony Telling Off from UK Government

The UK government isn't going to fine Sony for the compromised PSN data, but that doesn't mean it's gotten away scot-free.

UK culture minister Ed Vaizey has warned Sony that it must be more mindful of online security with the PlayStation Network. He said that as Sony - and other companies too - starting migrated to online services and products, data protection would have to become their top priority.

However, Vaizey - who has previously championed the videogame industry in parliament - said that the UK government would not interfere in the Information Commissioner's Office's - an independent UK body designed to uphold information rights and personal privacy - investigation into the outages, and would allow the ICO to decide if a fine was warranted on its own. "The Information Commission has been given new powers to issue fines where necessary," he said. "I know the ICO has been in touch with Sony and clearly this is a huge issue, Sony getting hacked and people's data being stolen."

Vaizey remained tight-lipped about any possible further repercussions for Sony for allowing so much personal data to be compromised. He did say, however, that any potential reimbursement or restitution was a matter for Sony to figure out, and the government would not force the company to do anything. Sony has already detailed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109692-PSN-Phasing-Back-Into-Existence-With-Enhanced-Security] its "make good" package for PSN, which includes free games and a free 30-day subscription to PlayStation Plus, although whether that will be sufficient to entice people back remains to be seen.

Source: Develop [http://www.develop-online.net/news/37658/Culture-minister-warns-Sony-over-PSN-breach]









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[TCAZZ]

I'm from the UK and how many times has our government left vital government information on the train? or in their car which got stolen? etc. takes the piss.

 

[imnot]

I'm from the UK and how many times has our government left vital government information on the train? or in their car which got stolen? etc. takes the piss.

Indeed.
SHut up Mr. Vaizey.
I dont even have a ps3 XD

 

[Vie]

Don't worry Mr Vaizey, I'm sure Sony will stump up enough of a cash back-hander to cover your rejected expenses claim.

Blasted Tory.

 

[mjc0961]

Cue another fight where people cite various rumors about the cause of the intrusion and the strength of Sony's security in 3... 2... 1...

I just want to know when they're going to let me sign up for the identity theft protection thingy. When do we get the e-mails?

 

[Jack and Calumon]

I'm from the UK and how many times has our government left vital government information on the train? or in their car which got stolen? etc. takes the piss.

Mostly when Gordon Brown and his gang of fellows were in power too, which just illustrates how, in retrospect, we were totally fucked up the arse with that last election, from choosing between an incompetent Scotsman who get's telling offs from old women he calls names behind their back, a man who will do shit, but too much shit because he has no idea what restraint is, and while he's at it might as well fix parts of the country that don't need fixing, and a spineless two faced liar who would probably jump if a Scottish Terrier did so much as look at him.

Whoops, went a little off topic there.

I'm glad. Sony has enough on their plate, and one fine would lead other countries to start dishing out major punishments as well so they didn't look like they were going easy on them. Until then, they still have the lawsuits to deal with, but before that they actually have to get the bloody thing available to the public and safe, meaning that if someone came in and asked for a large group of cash, the company will be under even more pressure than it already is.

Calumon: Why would people want to know about Jack? He just sits at the computer and spends ages at school, and sleeping and sleeping at school!

 

[FalloutJack]

Calumon: Why would people want to know about Jack? He just sits at the computer and spends ages at school, and sleeping and sleeping at school!

I DO NOT! I lead a very productive life and I'm a gradu- ...Oh. Wrong Jack. Whoopsee!

OT: Oh, stuff it already, Vaizey. We know you're only shouting to look more important.

 

[comadorcrack]

As an English man. I will respond with an English response. Fair enough.
Also yeah thats pretty good on him, he knowns enough to know that the government don't know enough about video games, so he's letting someone who does know about it, do what they know best... You know what I mean?

 

[wooty]

Pffffff, the Tories are a bigger gang of crooks than the hackers. BOOOO!!

 

[Sparrow]

Wooooah, what's with the negativity? The way I see it, Vaizey handled the topic in a pretty cool fashion. Props to the guy for not losing his shit like everyone else.

 

[Pearwood]

Wooooah, what's with the negativity? The way I see it, Vaizey handled the topic in a pretty cool fashion. Props to the guy for not losing his shit like everyone else.

The government has been notorious for losing laptops, not having passwords, insane stuff like that recently. It's just a bit irritating to hear them say that Sony needs to up their data protection.

 

[Pearwood]

Mostly when Gordon Brown and his gang of fellows were in power too, which just illustrates how, in retrospect, we were totally fucked up the arse with that last election, from choosing between an incompetent Scotsman who get's telling offs from old women he calls names behind their back, a man who will do shit, but too much shit because he has no idea what restraint is, and while he's at it might as well fix parts of the country that don't need fixing, and a spineless two faced liar who would probably jump if a Scottish Terrier did so much as look at him.

I think Brown got a lot of unfair criticism to be honest, he had to deal with the absolute mess Blair left. He made a few mistakes but at least he admitted to them, look at what the Tories are doing to healthcare and education and that's going totally ignored by the government. And that old woman thing, the more racists get insulted by world leaders the better.

 

[Sparrow]

Wooooah, what's with the negativity? The way I see it, Vaizey handled the topic in a pretty cool fashion. Props to the guy for not losing his shit like everyone else.

The government has been notorious for losing laptops, not having passwords, insane stuff like that recently. It's just a bit irritating to hear them say that Sony needs to up their data protection.

Recently? I haven't heard of anything recently. When Brown was in charge, yeah, crap like that happened weekly. I wouldn't directly blame that on Brown, though (even though I'm not exactly his biggest fan). The "government" has been mostly swapped out and replaced with new faces since the Conservative/LibDem coalition, so it's bit rough to blame it on the entirety of the government as a whole.

 

[Pearwood]

Recently? I haven't heard of anything recently. When Brown was in charge, yeah, crap like that happened weekly. I wouldn't directly blame that on Brown, though (even though I'm not exactly his biggest fan). The "government" has been mostly swapped out and replaced with new faces since the Conservative/LibDem coalition, so it's bit rough to blame it on the entirety of the government as a whole.

Well recently as in the last government. And yeah but it's not as if the Tories weren't doing it too!

 

[Thyunda]

Hah, that's quite funny. And it's good from him. It's like he's telling them that he's not going to protect them this time round.

 

[Dogstile]

I'm from the UK and how many times has our government left vital government information on the train? or in their car which got stolen? etc. takes the piss.

Twice. Seriously, those are the only times I can remember.

And that information was left there by officials. Just regular people making stupid mistakes. Sony was a company, which would lead me to assume they had a department for making sure this didn't happen.

 

[Matt Deary]

"not going to fine sony" its got fuck all to do with the goverment anyways. thats untill they try to tax by byte as they are currently trying to tax by mile for the car. havnt you got some expenses to file, u big toff arsehole

 

[Antari]

I just hope sony learns from all this and we don't see a repeat in another few years.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

There is a big difference between individuals leaving computers and such (which are encrypted anyway), and a company having their entire infrastructure compromised.

The government hate gets boring.

As far as things go, I'm impressed. It would be a fantastic opportunity to pay for the strippers at the Christmas party this year, and yet it's been left to the actual organisation set up to handle it; to handle it.

Other governments could take note.