Sony Admits Private PSN Info Has Been Stolen - All Of It

[rob_simple]

Luckily the card I used for my PSN transactions expired recently, so my money is theoretically safe. This is still an absolutely massive cock-up on Sony's part and it's done a lot of damage to my confidence in them. I don't see myself ever buying anything on PSN again.

Luckily, I have a completely seperate account for buying stuff on the interwebs that never has more than fifty bucks in it, for situations exactly like this.

Also, is it just me, or did Sony at no point in that e-mail suggest I should cancel my card or close down the account, but just be vigilant about spam e-mails?

In other words, let the maniac run about my house, but be careful if the knives start to go missing.

 

[Elmithian]

Somewhat Correct, Somewhat Wrong sir

It 'is' partly true what you say Cuppa T. Companies (game companies included) usually hire a third party to build up their security and their defenses. I don't know whether that is the case with the PSN (my knowledge of Sony history and systems reliance is very limited), but I can tell you that if that is the case, then Sony is only partially to blame.

Partially because they should
a) have checked on the defense measures themselves to be sure that is was really as good as they wanted it to be.
b) Also the first and the best thing to test a system defenses and reliance is to try to crack it themselves with hired Hackers before putting it out to the public, not doing that, at least search for loopholes in, this is a standard procedure for most companies that wants their system security to be taken seriously.
c) Even if they did all this and didn't find any loopholes they should always be careful and on full watch, especially when updating said system.

(Rule nr. 1 (or 20 or 234) for securing patches:
Companies should Always, and I mean always, test out whether something is wrong with patches by using an isolated system before making the patches open for the public. Sony is a wealthy company so there should be nothing hindering them from doing so.)

But partially not because
a) The third party company who is hired to build up defenses for system(s) are expected to make it properly and with as few as possible weaknesses.
b) They are usually contact bound to take responsibility of maintaining said system(s) and come up with fixes when loopholes/weaknesses in the walls are found. It is a serious rift of the contract if they do not.

But if they built up the defenses themselves, then oh dear! I would not want to be in their shoes right now. Nothing is scarier than many millions of angry customers.

EXTRA! READ IF INTERESTED!

Note of advice here people! If they did screw up on this but you didn't receive any damage to your account neither in the PSN nor in the Bank. Please refer from suing them... Sony is a wealthy company, but it can NOT handle being gangb*** by such a huge angry mob. It would make the game part of the company broke without a doubt.
And even if they totally f***ed up this time (excuse my language) the people that work for the various branches of the company should not have to suffer from the incompetence of a small group of people.

Do you really want that the people who made those games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sony_Greatest_Hits_games
lose their jobs?

EXTRA END

NOTE: If there is something out of place here or wrong in my reply, please just let me know. As I said before, nothing is mettled in stone, not even my opinion. If new information comes into daylight then I see nothing wrong with adjusting my view according to those evidences.

 

[Woodsey]

Fuck Sony man, hackers have teh rightz!!!!!

WHOO WHOO!

Oh, right, no. Fuck them.

Still, I access my account regularly so I'll know if anything gets taken out. I'll end up emptying it myself anyway - oh the joys of having no expenses!

Sony are incompetents.

For not being 100% hack-proof?

Yeah.

For being unable to protect private information entrusted upon them.

Anyone with a shred of sense should know that there's a possibility their data will be stolen. No, its not fair, or what we want, but shit happens.

Just because there is still street crime doesn't make it fair to deem the police incompetent.

My bank has never been hacked . . . .

Is this the bit where someone quotes me, makes a barely-there point, and expects me to understand the relevance?

Is this the bit where someone quotes me, makes a barely-there point because they have no come back to my point, and expects me to understand the relevance?

You didn't even create enough of a point for it to make sense; certainly not enough for me to come back to.

 

[Woodsey]

Fuck Sony man, hackers have teh rightz!!!!!

WHOO WHOO!

Oh, right, no. Fuck them.

Still, I access my account regularly so I'll know if anything gets taken out. I'll end up emptying it myself anyway - oh the joys of having no expenses!

Sony are incompetents.

For not being 100% hack-proof?

Yeah.

For being unable to protect private information entrusted upon them.

Anyone with a shred of sense should know that there's a possibility their data will be stolen. No, its not fair, or what we want, but shit happens.

Just because there is still street crime doesn't make it fair to deem the police incompetent.

My bank has never been hacked . . . .

Is this the bit where someone quotes me, makes a barely-there point, and expects me to understand the relevance?

Is this the bit where someone quotes me, makes a barely-there point because they have no come back to my point, and expects me to understand the relevance?

You didn't even create enough of a point for it to make sense; certainly not enough for me to come back to.

obviously I have to spell it out for you ....

My bank has never been hacked (lloyds TSB one of the biggest banks in the UK), they have access to allot more valuable information than Sony, hence if they can fend off hacker attacks so can Sony, hence its Sony's fault ... They got lazy, or tried to save money some where along the line, perhaps due to the lack of subscription for PSN.

If an entire bank was hacked then there would be considerably more trouble than someone possibly having your credit card number and name and address. Bank's will obviously have more protection on their entire system, and just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean the system is full-proof. To think so is totally naive.

 

[Emergent]

no not really being as I live in the UK an thats how it is ......

Sure about that? http://lmgtfy.com/?q=poverty+in+the+uk

In case you have trouble parsing the data (or noticing the poor people when you look out of your window): 1 in 5 people in your country are below the poverty line.

 

[samaugsch]

Hackers this, hackers that ... not a one of you (apologies for gross generalisation) seems to know what a hacker actually is and what they do.

Do they...hack?

No, that can't be right. Who would think that HACKers hack?

Do see Elmithian's post, would you?

Ok I get it now, but wouldn't crackers be a type of hacker? Since they still hack?

 

[BlueMage]

Hackers this, hackers that ... not a one of you (apologies for gross generalisation) seems to know what a hacker actually is and what they do.

Do they...hack?

No, that can't be right. Who would think that HACKers hack?

Do see Elmithian's post, would you?

Ok I get it now, but wouldn't crackers be a type of hacker? Since they still hack?

The difference is in intent friend. Not all crackers are hackers, as they may simply have access to sophisticated security-bypass tools that someone else took the time and effort to develop.

For an analogy: If someone gave me a watch that I then use, does that make me a watchmaker? Even if I take the watch apart? Nope. It makes me someone who (in addition to voiding his warranty) took his watch apart.

 

[Flight]

Just last week, my roomie was attempting to convince me to join the PSN. I'm so glad I didn't.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

Sony are incompetents.

For not being 100% hack-proof?

Well considering that according to this the hackers have gotten just about EVERYTHING, I can't say it'd help Sony's reputation.

Perhaps Extra Credit's gaming-without-consoles idea will happen sooner than expected.

Hackers this, hackers that ... not a one of you (apologies for gross generalisation) seems to know what a hacker actually is and what they do.

Do they...hack?

No, that can't be right. Who would think that HACKers hack?

Do see Elmithian's post, would you?

Ok I get it now, but wouldn't crackers be a type of hacker? Since they still hack?

The difference is in intent friend. Not all crackers are hackers, as they may simply have access to sophisticated security-bypass tools that someone else took the time and effort to develop.

For an analogy: If someone gave me a watch that I then use, does that make me a watchmaker? Even if I take the watch apart? Nope. It makes me someone who (in addition to voiding his warranty) took his watch apart.

Is that totally accurate? I was under the impression a hacker was someone who hacked, not someone who designed hacking equipment or technology.

 

[Elmithian]

Hackers this, hackers that ... not a one of you (apologies for gross generalisation) seems to know what a hacker actually is and what they do.

Do they...hack?

No, that can't be right. Who would think that HACKers hack?

Do see Elmithian's post, would you?

Ok I get it now, but wouldn't crackers be a type of hacker? Since they still hack?

The difference is in intent friend. Not all crackers are hackers, as they may simply have access to sophisticated security-bypass tools that someone else took the time and effort to develop.

For an analogy: If someone gave me a watch that I then use, does that make me a watchmaker? Even if I take the watch apart? Nope. It makes me someone who (in addition to voiding his warranty) took his watch apart.

Is that totally accurate? I was under the impression a hacker was someone who hacked, not someone who designed hacking equipment or technology.

Actually most people that specialize in building programs and building computers could be called hackers, but the term is more correct when in use about people that have deep understanding in how systems work and where their weaknesses lie.
As I have already said before it is how they use their ability that determines whether they are hackers or crackers. If they get into a system just to get into a system, without damaging it nor to steal from someone, or if they work at defending said systems against those who have intend of breaking and stealing, then they are Hackers. But when they do the exactly opposite then they aren't hacking but cracking, breaking in a system in a harmful way or with malicious intentions, those are the Crackers.

The term Hacker is simply an overused term used by the media and has been the frustration of many people who work on this field.

NOTE: If you disagree, just tell me why. I like to see different opinions, and if it is plausible, then I often adapt my view according to that. Nothing is mettled in stone, not even my opinion.

Elm signing off.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

At least I didn't give any credit card details to the PSN- I have yet to buy any DLC or downloadable games...

 

[Emergent]

Yet again another person who can not read ....

Yet another person who cannot read when someone else is clearly reading. You're either a raging moron for reading someone's text and thinking they can't read, or a raging moron for thinking that's clever, or maybe just a really, really, bright person who likes to insult people on the internet with obviously unworkable quips whilst masturbating to granny porn or something equally disgusting. I'll let you choose which.

I said not wide spread, not, not at all, an I don't give a crap what a google search says, I live here I travel about, an I come into contact with all sorts of people, I know more about the state of my country living here in different city's and villages day in day out since birth, than a google search.

(also the massive hole in, being under the poverty line is it take no account of council housing or benefits)

that's first hand information, a very very small percentage of people in the UK can claim to be truly poor, being as we have the NHS, council provided homes and a overly generous benefits system!

You have just totally lost all credibility for me being as you think you know more with a google search than some one who lives here . . .

Trust me, no one cries when they lose credibility with someone who can read someone else's text and then say with a straight face "yet another person on forums who can't read." Nor does anyone cry about it when someone who thinks one-in-five poverty is not "widespread." That you're callously blind to the suffering of those around you does not mean the poll data is somehow inaccurate. It just means you're a entitled git with no empathy for the suffering of others (we call that sociopathy where I'm from). Please feel free to continue showing the rest of us just how far the silver spoon is rammed up your rectum. No widespread poverty in the Capitalist countries my ass. It's still amazing to me that you're so godamned spoiled by what wealth you do have that you think you can state that without deeply insulting the hundreds of millions of people living in poverty in capitalist countries across the world.

EDIT: On widespread poverty in the UK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3509886.stm , http://www.mediatrust.org/uploads/126633788669442/original.pdf

 

[Elmithian]

People please! Stop arguing about something like that!
I believe everyone is entitled to have their own opinion, no matter how good or bad it is.
Also talking about poverty seems somewhat out of the original subject I believe.
Wasn't this thread about how Sony fell into a big pile of sh** when it came to the surface that their system wasn't as reliable as they made people believe?
And this thread seems also to be about crackers and who is to blame.

Sure, poverty is an awful thing and I have for example gone to Taiwan as a volunteer for the red cross, but that doesn't mean that I have any more idea how horrible poverty is than the other guy. The only thing that taught me was that I knew nothing about what poverty was and there exists lot of people that are in worse situation than I, and most people want to imagine.

So people, stop arguing. Those who aren't rich, but aren't poor have a different opinion. Those who aren't exactly poor but not average either have a different opinion. A person has a different opinion from another person and how one looks at life is often completely different from how others perceive it.