Sony Became Hacker Target for Protecting its IPs, Says CEO

[Logan Westbrook]

Sony Became Hacker Target for Protecting its IPs, Says CEO

Hacking is a growing problem all over the world, says the Sony boss.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer says that the prolonged hacking campaign waged against it by hackers around the world is all down to the fact that the company tried to protect its company assets - in this case, videogames. Sony has suffered a number of online attacks and intrusions, the most notable being the attack on the PlayStation Network, which was subsequently out of action for more than a month.

Speaking at a shareholders meeting, Stringer said that there were people who didn't think that Sony should protect its assets. Stringer clearly felt that the event that led to the attacks was Sony's legal efforts against jailbreaker George "GeoHot" Hotz. Sony sued the 21-year-old after he posted the root key for the PS3 - which would allow people to run any software they wanted on the console - on his blog. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, with Hotz agreeing not to hack any Sony hardware again. Sony's actions drew the ire of hacker groups like Anonymous, which mounted attacks against various Sony websites over the course of several months.

Stringer also said that Sony was just one of a number of organizations that had come under attack from hackers. "Cyber terrorism is now a global force," he said."If hackers can hack Citibank, the FBI and the CIA ... then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

However, while few would argue that the attacks on Sony - which exposed the personal details of millions of people whose only crime was being Sony customers - were a disproportionate response to the lawsuit, Stringer isn't really showing the whole picture. He neglects to mention, for example, that part of Sony's efforts to protect its IPs involved removing features from the PS3 without the console owners' consent. That doesn't excuse the actions of the hackers, of course, but there are a lot of details and context that Stringer is brushing aside.

Source: Reuters [http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/28/sony-idUKL3E7HS0A220110628] via Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5816092/sony-says-it-was-hacked-because-it-tried-to-protect-its-ip]


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[Sniper Team 4]

If forced to side with one party or the other, I'm siding with Sony on this one.

 

[unacomn]

The sad part is that this years hacking marathon has given, more or less, all the fuel needed to the people who advocate for strongly policing the Internet.

 

[Treblaine]

"Cyber terrorism is now a global force," Stringer said."If hackers can hack Citibank, the FBI and the CIA ... then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

Terrorism? Who got killed in this "attack"?

More like Cyber vandalism, or Cyber shenanigans. Yes, that is the proper term for this: Cyber shenanigans.

 

[vxicepickxv]

If forced to side with one party or the other, I'm siding with Sony on this one.

If forced to side with one party or the other, I'm killing myself. The lesser of two evils is still evil.

 

[JediMB]

"Cyber terrorism is now a global force," Stringer said."If hackers can hack Citibank, the FBI and the CIA ... then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

Terrorism? Who got killed in this "attack"?

More like Cyber vandalism, or Cyber shenanigans. Yes, that is the proper term for this: Cyber shenanigans.

> terrorism (usually uncountable; plural terrorisms)
> 1. The deliberate commission of an act of violence to create an emotional response through the suffering of the victims in the furtherance of a political or social agenda.

If you can equate hacking to "cyber violence", the term works pretty well.

 

[Jumwa]

The sad part is that this years hacking marathon has given, more or less, all the fuel needed to the people who advocate for strongly policing the Internet.

Sadly I think so as well.

Hearing Sony completely fudge events to make it sound like they did nothing in any way to incite any backlash is just disconcerting. Certainly it wasn't a just way of dealing with anything, and consumers were hurt not just Sony, but to pretend as if the issue were just simply them going about business is silly. There was a debate there that transcended the mere events themselves.

 

[-Dragmire-]

The sad part is that this years hacking marathon has given, more or less, all the fuel needed to the people who advocate for strongly policing the Internet.

Sadly I think so as well.

Hearing Sony completely fudge events to make it sound like they did nothing in any way to incite any backlash is just disconcerting. Certainly it wasn't a just way of dealing with anything, and consumers were hurt not just Sony, but to pretend as if the issue were just simply them going about business is silly. There was a debate there that transcended the mere events themselves.

It was a shareholders meeting, if there's anyone Sony wants to bs for damage control it's them.

 

[GonzoGamer]

That's a really weak excuse...at least to a ps3 owner who hasn't bothered hacking....yet.

The problem isn?t that they?re protecting their Ips, the problem is that all these measures are done at the expense of their legitimate customers.
It seems like all the support for the ps3 & psp is entirely centered around fending off hackers rather than improving the console owning experience for the people who actually buy games. We?ve even seen big features like OtherOS chopped away for fear of hacking when they really should?ve figured out a way to make it safe for them to keep.
They actually end up just giving people more incentive to hack their machines. If they gave really good support, some people wouldn?t even think about hacking because they would want the legitimate features.
Sure but protect yourself but within reason: try spending more of those resources on those customers who are still willing to spend money on you.

 

[genericusername64]

It really comes down to, the few or the many and as we all know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa6c3OTr6yA

 

[Keava]

The sad part is that this years hacking marathon has given, more or less, all the fuel needed to the people who advocate for strongly policing the Internet.

Which will lead to more attacks, from more exotic locations, it's not that hard to set up several VPNs in other countries and bounce between them freely. Majority of hacking attacks comes form China, Russia and Brasil anyway, not much US nor EU can do about it.

And as for Sony, sorry, till you learn how to keep user data secure you don't get my sympathy. Even tho you can't avoid being hacked you can at least do a lot to mitigate the effects. Majority of data theft is result of companies not willing to provide bare minimum. Plaintext passwords, databases accessible through web connections, simple md5 hashing, lack of security training for employees that later click on Free_Celebrity_Sex_Party.exe attachments ... Fix that first, then look for "baddies".

 

[Treblaine]

"Cyber terrorism is now a global force," Stringer said."If hackers can hack Citibank, the FBI and the CIA ... then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

Terrorism? Who got killed in this "attack"?

More like Cyber vandalism, or Cyber shenanigans. Yes, that is the proper term for this: Cyber shenanigans.

> terrorism (usually uncountable; plural terrorisms)
> 1. The deliberate commission of an act of violence to create an emotional response through the suffering of the victims in the furtherance of a political or social agenda.

If you can equate hacking to "cyber violence", the term works pretty well.

You do realise that somebody doesnt have to be killed for it to be terrorism.

But there was no violence, no threat of violence, no possibility of violence.

No on got killed, there was no threat that anyone could get killed, there wasn't even a possibility anyone could have been killed.

You need at least one of those to POSSIBLY call this terrorism!

If we can't even call REAL piracy a form of terrorism - you know those Somali pirates with guns ACTUALLY killing people - then how the hell can we call software piracy terrorism?

Get some perspective here, this is trivialising of real terrorist atrocities to put these punk kids fucking around on a network in the same category as a suicide bomber blowing up a train full of commuters.

Is Lulzsec anything more than a bunch of pranksters who've taken things too far?

 

[Frostbite3789]

"Cyber terrorism is now a global force," Stringer said."If hackers can hack Citibank, the FBI and the CIA ... then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

Terrorism? Who got killed in this "attack"?

More like Cyber vandalism, or Cyber shenanigans. Yes, that is the proper term for this: Cyber shenanigans.

> terrorism (usually uncountable; plural terrorisms)
> 1. The deliberate commission of an act of violence to create an emotional response through the suffering of the victims in the furtherance of a political or social agenda.

If you can equate hacking to "cyber violence", the term works pretty well.

You do realise that somebody doesnt have to be killed for it to be terrorism.

But there was no violence, no threat of violence, no possibility of violence.

No on got killed, there was no threat that anyone could get killed, there wasn't even a possibility anyone could have been killed.

You need at least one of those to POSSIBLY call this terrorism!

If we can't even call REAL piracy a form of terrorism - you know those Somali pirates with guns ACTUALLY killing people - then how the hell can we call software piracy terrorism?

Get some perspective here, this is trivialising of real terrorist atrocities to put these punk kids fucking around on a network in the same category as a suicide bomber blowing up a train full of commuters.

Is Lulzsec anything more than a bunch of pranksters who've taken things too far?

So, a bank robbery where nobody gets killed is just shenanigans? And identity theft is just messin' about? Well, now that all that is in perspective.

 

[JediMB]

But there was no violence, no threat of violence, no possibility of violence.

No on got killed, there was no threat that anyone could get killed, there wasn't even a possibility anyone could have been killed.

You need at least one of those to POSSIBLY call this terrorism!

If we can't even call REAL piracy a form of terrorism - you know those Somali pirates with guns ACTUALLY killing people - then how the hell can we call software piracy terrorism?

Get some perspective here, this is trivialising of real terrorist atrocities to put these punk kids fucking around on a network in the same category as a suicide bomber blowing up a train full of commuters.

Is Lulzsec anything more than a bunch of pranksters who've taken things too far?

I'm sorry if the dictionary definition doesn't completely fit your idea of what terrorism is, or what certain governments have been hyping it up to be in the last decade or so.

For crimes where people get killed, we also have useful words like "homicide", "genocide", etc.

 

[viranimus]

then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

See, this is my problem with this whole ordeal. Sony pulled bait and switch, then tries to ruin a guys life via litigation because he restored what was wrongly taken away. At that point, and they admit it, they invoked ire and brought hell down on themselves. But... citing irrelevant CIA, FBI front pages being brought down, and saying, its time for the government to step in Is wrong, its misguided, its an illegitimate notion and worst of all its a lie.

Sony doesnt care about other organizations being hacked. No, what they care about is eroding ownership rights, and the only governmental action they are concerned with is those that give them freedom to screw with consumers in order to maximize profits and it infuriates me to see people defending sony like they were for one second not behaving like a multinational conglomerate trying to use litigation and legislation to ensure shareholders profitability.

Hackers may well be wrong for their actions in this, But for all they actually did its like comparing a first offense possession charge to a serial rapist. All these "hackers" did was inconvenience people for a few days and jarred them from their entertainment. Sony if left unchecked is trying to undo established rights and freedoms.

 

[McMullen]

"Cyber terrorism is now a global force," Stringer said."If hackers can hack Citibank, the FBI and the CIA ... then it's a negative situation that governments may have to resolve."

Terrorism? Who got killed in this "attack"?

More like Cyber vandalism, or Cyber shenanigans. Yes, that is the proper term for this: Cyber shenanigans.

Terrorism, as its name should suggest, is not about killing or injuring people. It's about making the public lose faith in those whose job it is to protect them, by attacking them publicly and spectacularly in ways that completely destroy their sense of safety. This is done in order to get the public to pressure their government or in this case corporations to stop doing whatever it is that pisses the attackers off. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Killing or injuring people, long known to be an effective method of hurting them, is thus a common method in terrorism, but it is not the focus. Posting personal info is a good way to inflict fear on the public as well, and therefore doing so with the goal of influencing corporate policy is cyberterrorism.