Sony CEO Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

[Andy Chalk]

Sony CEO Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

In an open letter on the PlayStation Blog, Sony President and CEO Howard Stringer apologizes for the trouble caused by PSN downtime and explains what the company is doing to make up for it.

Sony Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer, the big cheese himself, has something he wants to say. He knows you're frustrated with the PlayStation Network fiasco, and he wants you to know that Sony is throwing everything it has into investigating the attack and getting its services back online. Unfortunately, he doesn't appear to have any idea about when that might actually happen.

But the news isn't all bad. Stringer said there's no evidence at this point that any stolen credit card information has been misused and also confirmed that U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.

A "Welcome Back" package will be offered to customers as well once the services are back online, which will include a month of free PlayStation Plus membership for all PSN customers and an extension of existing PlayStation Plus and Music Unlimited subscriptions to make up for lost time. Other as-yet-unrevealed benefits will also be offered.

Stringer acknowledged that it was "fair" to question whether the company waited too long to notify its customers of the breach, but said it acted as quickly as it could. "As soon as we discovered the potential scope of the intrusion, we shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and hired some of the best technical experts in the field to determine what happened," he explained. "I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had - or had not - been taken."

"As a company we - and I - apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack," he wrote. "Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible."

Stringer's open letter to PSN customers can be read in full at the U.S. PlayStation Blog [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/a-letter-from-howard-stringer/].

Thanks to Zelgon [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/Zelgon] for the tip.


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[Irridium]

Glad to see him suck it up and apologize.

Now, how about he explain Sony's obsolete software [http://consumerist.com/2011/05/security-expert-sony-knew-its-software-was-obsolete-months-before-psn-breach.html].

 

[linkvegeta]

Im not a fan of Most Sony products but they do make a dam good HDTV!

 

[THEoriginalBRIEN]

Sony's Head Honcho Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.



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"one year at no charge"? does that mean sony's going to start charging extra for adequate theft protection next year??

 

[Littlee300]

First thought: The Sony CEO and president is white?
Second thought: These hackers are assholes...
Third thought: How nice, he is giving a welcome back package even though it is probably mostly to help himself
Fourth thought: Fire the idiots who made your security and I will totally be on your side Sony.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Sony's Head Honcho Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.



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"one year at no charge"? does that mean sony's going to start charging extra for adequate theft protection next year??

Either that, or they'll take away the protection program after a year. Your guess would be as good as mine...but I think we both know the answer to your question. Sooooo, we might as well take estimations as how much it'll cost per month or per year while we're still young.

I'm going with 60 US dollars per year, and that will be IF you're enrolled in it after the year is up.

 

[rsvp42]

Sony's Head Honcho Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.



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"one year at no charge"? does that mean sony's going to start charging extra for adequate theft protection next year??

Either that, or they'll take away the protection program after a year. Your guess would be as good as mine...but I think we both know the answer to your question. Sooooo, we might as well take estimations as how much it'll cost per month or per year while we're still young.

I'm going with 60 US dollars per year, and that will be IF you're enrolled in it after the year is up.

This is in addition to the upgraded server security. Appears to be an incentive to bring people back with more peace of mind. Services like XBOX Live don't offer that, but then again, they haven't lost data to hackers and shaken the faith of their community.

 

[Blindrooster]

I actually feel bad for sony. For one thing I can't log onto Galaxies but hey, free month. I'm sick of hackers. They're just making problems for everyone but themselves. Eh, maybe this is karma for SOE doing NGE in galaxies for those of you who know what I'm talking about. How you bust em, sony.

 

[Furious Styles]

Thats because the credit cards were a cover to steal Important documents from Sony that can shut them down permanently. See you later Sony you had a good run but your time is now limited. The clock has begun.......

Oh yes let's all have a chuckle about sony going out of business. You forget that Sony isn't just the head honchos and higher ups responsible for this mess, who even if it went out of business could fall back on their fortunes, its every single employee, supplier, buyer and all the employees of those respective companies. If Sony were to go down, it would have an awful effect on a great many people so don't wish downfall upon Sony. I sincerely hope you're joking, I have no great love for Sony right now (nor ever particularly) but if such a big company collapsed it would be catastrophic.

I actually feel bad for sony. I'm sick of hackers. They're just making problems for everyone but themselves.

This is exactly how I feel about the whole thing in general, and that whole geohotz thing... and anonymous.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Sony's Head Honcho Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.



Permalink

"one year at no charge"? does that mean sony's going to start charging extra for adequate theft protection next year??

Either that, or they'll take away the protection program after a year. Your guess would be as good as mine...but I think we both know the answer to your question. Sooooo, we might as well take estimations as how much it'll cost per month or per year while we're still young.

I'm going with 60 US dollars per year, and that will be IF you're enrolled in it after the year is up.

This is in addition to the upgraded server security. Appears to be an incentive to bring people back with more peace of mind. Services like XBOX Live don't offer that, but then again, they haven't lost data to hackers and shaken the faith of their community.

What appears to be and what will be is, sadly, not crystal clear. Though it might be an incentive, the context in which the OP said that particular statement DOES make it seem that, after the year is up, they will charge for this protection. I could be wrong, though. (The Y chromosome I possess gives a heightened percentage of that possibility)

 

[Frostbite3789]

Thats because the credit cards were a cover to steal Important documents from Sony that can shut them down permanently. See you later Sony you had a good run but your time is now limited. The clock has begun.......

Oh yes let's all have a chuckle about sony going out of business. You forget that Sony isn't just the head honchos and higher ups responsible for this mess, who even if it went out of business could fall back on their fortunes, its every single employee, supplier, buyer and all the employees of those respective companies. If Sony were to go down, it would have an awful effect on a great many people so don't wish downfall upon Sony. I sincerely hope you're joking, I have no great love for Sony right now (nor ever particularly) but if such a big company collapsed it would be catastrophic.

I actually feel bad for sony. I'm sick of hackers. They're just making problems for everyone but themselves.

This is exactly how I feel about the whole thing in general, and that whole geohotz thing... and anonymous.

It would also be very bad for the games industry as a whole. If you can't figure out why, there is no point in explaining it.

 

[faefrost]

Sony's Head Honcho Speaks Out on PSN Catastrophe

U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.



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"one year at no charge"? does that mean sony's going to start charging extra for adequate theft protection next year??

It's a third party credit and identity theft monitoring service and insurance policy. They are normally purchased in 1 year subscriptions. and for a breach like this, one year full monitoring is pretty common. After that period the chances of that compromised data being used drastically reduces to almost negligeable.

I gotta say. As someone who is effected by this, and has already had to cancel a CC and has had my gaming experiences curtailed, this response actually sits pretty well with me. While Sony's information might not have been as absolutely fast as we would have liked, the delays seemed to be a matter of a day or two as they investigated. This is a far cry from the 3 to 6 month delays in reporting we have seen in others. (T J Maxx anyone?). They have been far more up front and open about what happened then most compromised vendors I have encountered. So high marks for that. Other than the credit monitoring, I am not thrilled with the compensation package. I think they would have just been better off giving the users a chunk of credit on PSN to use as they saw fit. But they did really impress me with tying the million dollar ID theft insurance policy on all those effected. That is not standard practice and really is both a brilliant move and the right way to handle it. This way those who do get harmed, get made right.

So I'll give em a 4 out of 5 on the response provided they can get the networks back up in a smooth and timely manner.

 

[Tony2077]

its nice to see that from him. i hope its back up soon in some form or another

 

[Elamdri]

But the news isn't all bad. Stringer said there's no evidence at this point that any stolen credit card information has been misused and also confirmed that U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers will be enrolled in the AllClear ID Plus identity theft protect program [http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/sony-offering-free-allclear-id-plus-identity-theft-protection-in-the-united-states-through-debix-inc/], that includes a $1 million insurance policy against identity theft, for one year at no charge.

Now THIS, this I like. The first good thing I've seen come out of Sony since this whole thing started.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Shoulda made a commercial like the BP dude in South Park, just appear in random places saying sorry.

 

[Swifteye]

First thought: The Sony CEO and president is white?

I am a terrible person for I thought the same thing. They said this week PSN would be back online and in another update they said they made a milestone which isn't an exact estimate but as long as they still hold the being done by the end of the week part that would be great. I have a dummy account ready and everything. Anyday now Sony.

 

[jakefongloo]

Ho-ly shit that was so...corporate. Fuckin team of writers with a easy apology letter. For once I would like to see the CEO go on live television look directly at the camera and just shrug and say,"we fucked up we're sorry. We take care of our friends though stick with us and we got you covered." I can almost imagine him saying "read but not written" or whatever.

I've really tried to defend you Sony. I don't even have a PS. But really! just once bare your self in an apology. Talk to us like real people not a statistic.

 

[Furious Styles]

It would also be very bad for the games industry as a whole. If you can't figure out why, there is no point in explaining it.

No? Really? As a ps3 owner I did not know that. Please outline why, for you see I have been living under a rock for several years and have been struck blind death and dumb.

Of course I know that for fuck's sake, I just figured he probably had an eye on the pulse of the games industry (you know, what with him being on the escapist) and thought that I might try and shine a light on some of the wider ramifications.

Sorry for the sarcasm and snippy tone, I'm fucking tired right now.