Sony Offers "Sincerest Apologies" for PSN Attack

[mjc0961]

You do realize how much money they stand to lose from giving away a free month of PS+ to potentially 77 million PSN users right?

You do realize that they stand to GAIN money from giving away PS+, right? Maybe you didn't know, but anything PS+ gives you for free stops working if you don't stay subscribed to the program. So what they do is give some awesome games away on PS+ during that month, and then they flip the switch on those free games off so nobody can play them anymore unless they give Sony $50 for more PS+ or buy the games separately. Either way, Sony gets more sales.

 

[Echo136]

You do realize how much money they stand to lose from giving away a free month of PS+ to potentially 77 million PSN users right?

You do realize that they stand to GAIN money from giving away PS+, right? Maybe you didn't know, but anything PS+ gives you for free stops working if you don't stay subscribed to the program. So what they do is give some awesome games away on PS+ during that month, and then they flip the switch on those free games off so nobody can play them anymore unless they give Sony $50 for more PS+ or buy the games separately. Either way, Sony gets more sales.

Oh yes, I know all this already. But normally you have to pay a monthly fee for such a bullshit priveledge. A free game is a free game is a free game. Not everyone is going to go on a buying spree.

 

[sir.rutthed]

I really wanna know who this hacker/these hackers is/are. Not because I need a face to channel my nerd rage, just because it'd be interesting to see what one of the greatest computer minds of this generation looks like. Besides, the guy's obviously got skill. I can't imagine him doing a lot of time before he starts working for the FBI or something.

"sincerest apologies".... That's it?

Do you understand the Asian concept of "losing face?" It isn't much like the Western concept of an apology -- one that's usually insincere and don't mean much of anything.

That's all well and good, but us westerners don't give a damn about saying sorry and bowing. That's why there's also the free stuff and upgraded membership, I'd imagine.

Which suggests that perhaps Westerns would be well-advised to learn something from the Asian cultures and, perhaps, realize that the things we can touch are not the only things with value.

Or it suggests that Easterners could stand to learn something from us that saying sorry and doing a toe touch isn't enough to make up for such an epic screw up. Neither culture is "right", this is just the way things are.

You make it sound as if a "my bad" is all they're doing in response.

No, I'm just trying to say it's a good thing that's not all they're doing. You can say sorry and bow all you want, but unless you back it up with some actions to show you really mean it nobody should take it seriously. The best way to gain back face after losing it is to act honorably and show how sorry you are, not just take a bow and get on with your life.

 

[FalloutJack]

Shit happens, and I never lost anything to begin with. We're cool.

 

[Jodah]

Apology accepted. Can we all move on and forget this nonsense now?

 

[Sutter Cane]

This article is in serious need of that picture: http://www.businessinsider.com/sony-exec-bows-deeply-in-apology-for-security-breach-2011-5

Wow... shit just got real.

 

[JDKJ]

What else is a company supposed to do?

Keep their damn story straight. I'm tired of hearing a brand new version of events from Sony every day.

Quit reading the Escapist, then. Half the "versions" of events out there aren't fairly attributable to Sony. They're the invention of the gaming press.

 

[Psychophante]

Apology accepted. Get PSN back up, let me play Portal 2 co-op, and all will be forgiven.

 

[JDKJ]

Say what you like about this whole incident, but the guys bowed. They stood up in a press conference, and they bowed. Would this happen anywhere else, in any other country, and all you'd get is some jackass being paid to say: "We're really, really sorry. Like, really sorry."

Right on, Sony. There was a fuck up and you apologised like true human beings. My respect for you is now +5.

Yeah, it's nice to see that Sony Japan is made up of some decent human beings.

I haven't heard an apology from that asswipe Jack Tretton that we're stuck with in America yet, though. If he says anything, it'll probably be some condescending nonsense about how self-respecting adults don't get upset at the possibility of having their identity stolen. And then I'll throw my PS3 off a cliff and never buy a Sony product again unless I happen to move to Japan.

But still though, they are still changing their story every day. Now they claim there was no proof our data got stolen, even though they previous confirmed that it all was stolen. Make up your damn minds, Sony. This is ridiculous. Can we get a statement from the FBI or Homeland Security? Maybe they can keep their story straight.

Great PR move, honestly. And a hard one for a lot of hard-working folks to make. The technicians know it's not their fault, and they know this is making them look bad... but the company at large knows they can't convince the irrational public of this, because the hackers don't have any faces to hate (yet).

So they throw themselves under the bus, and offer an unqualified apology accepting the "blame," just to get things back on track. Swallowing the pride and getting down to business. Kudos to Sony. I don't own any Sony consoles or products, but this gives me some real respect for them.

I just wish they didn't have to do this. It'd be nice if they could just say, "Look. We got hacked. It's the hackers' fault. We're going to try to fix it going forward, but quit blaming us. Seriously, it's like blaming a guy whose house got robbed because he happened to be borrowing your lawnmower at the time."

They didn't encrypt our user data. They said as much in an earlier statement. Thus if you think they are blame free, you are nuts. They obviously didn't take as many measures as they could have to secure everyone's information, and thus they do share in the blame. It is somewhat their fault. Yes, everyone can be hacked and have digital information stole from them. But no, that doesn't mean you just say "fuck it, why bother with security?" and don't bother trying to make it difficult for intruders. Not encrypting that data was a real bonehead move and absolutely means they deserve their share of the blame in this incident.

Do you realize that even if the personal data was encrypted, that alone would not have made it impossible for a cyber-thief to steal it? And that there is nothing you can do to make it impossible for a determined cyber-thief to steal your data? The best you'll ever do is to make yourself a less attractive victim and hope that they move on to easier pickings, but that's the best you can do.

 

[kajinking]

So Sony decided to say sorry? Why do I see Kevin Butler doing this?

Was wondering when this was going to be brought up

 

[T-Bone24]

I just want to get portal on my pc

Absolutely, that's what I've wanted since the day I got it (also the day the PSN went down, whoops). I just want to play co-op.

 

[Xanthious]

You do realize how much money they stand to lose from giving away a free month of PS+ to potentially 77 million PSN users right?

Not nearly enough. In the end it equals out to about 15 dollars a person, maybe more if you factor in the free games and whatever the hell Qriocity is. However, these are all digital services which probably have an actual cost to Sony of much less than 15 dollars per person. And this is all assuming people even want to use Sony's online services again. People that choose not to risk their lax security a second time are left with no compensation for the theft of their personal information due to Sony's negligence.

This needs to be brought to a court of law where they can be made accountable for their part in all of this. What they have offered to date (a few shiny baubles and a staged apology) isn't even a beginning to what they need to come off of to make this right with the people that trusted them with their personal information and credit card information. Furthermore, I don't care if the lawyers are the only ones that get rich off the lawsuit as long as Sony is made to pay for their negligence and poor handling of this matter.

 

[megapenguinx]

in b4 "Anonymous did it!" without reading the article.




Now, what will you do if/when credit cards that were "stolen" start being used?

You should have canceled your card by now or at the very least set up a fraud alert.

 

[NinjaTigerXIII]

JUST GET THE PSN BACK ONLINE PLEASE! And thank you Sony, admitting that you screwed up royally was big of you.

 

[Saltyk]

I never blamed Sony, so this apology is just icing on the cake to me. I'll happily take my free stuff and allow this to pass. Just don't let it happen again, please. Then, I will be very upset.
Now, if the authorities can just catch the perpetrators this will wrap up nicely.

Also, where is the photo of them bowing in the article? Someone posted it in their comment. Why can't the article? It's a very powerful image.

I am of the highest opinion that gamers need to take the collective stick out of their collective asses...Sony may have not had the proper encryption, but in no way was this their fault. Blame the hackers; not the victim(s). It's asinine and basically is like blaming a murder victim because he had your car keys in his pocket at the time, having borrowed them from you for a brief time. Take the stick out and look at what Sony is doing...they apologized and their culture there, that means a HELL of a lot more than it does here. They're getting PSN back up, they're giving us all free stuff, and they're trying to improve security. They're doing the best; that's all we can ask. And to those who says XBL is invulnerable, think again. This could happen to XBL, Facebook(!), Amazon, Google, etc. Anonymous and other hackers are not "vigilantes" or "freedim fighters" They're people ruining other people's lives: they're criminals and should be treated as such. We don't bow or cave in to crooks, we lock them up. Maybe a day for each person they screwed with would be appropriate (75 million days each...just enough time in prison)...

Don't forget that with how many people link their accounts to other accounts, like Twitter and Facebook, it is very easy to hack a person's information. Just getting the information to hack one will likely open up all the others.

Hell, just recently, I had to call my ISP, to have an issue fixed. At a certain point, they had to ask me my security question. And I was stumped. I quickly came up with three possible answers and didn't want to screw it up. Without missing a beat, the person told me the first letter of the answer. I instantly knew the answer, but something bothered me. He was so willing to reveal this to me. Fortunately, you'd have to be local to know the answer, but how many others can say that?

I think it is a very real possibility that MicroSoft or any other company, like Nintendo or Visa, could be hacked, too. I hope that they don't for everyone's sake. Still, I think this should be a lesson to all involved. Nothing is 100% secure.

 

[Xanthious]

And that's reason to accept the apology. In the Japanese culture that right there is the ultimate apology.

Yeah it takes a big company to get each and every one of their 77 million online users' information compromised and then throw three executives out to give a staged apology. I'm sure when people start having their identities stolen and their credit cards used fraudulently that little bow there is going to make it all better.

If Sony was actually sorry they wouldn't have waited a week and a half to apologize. They wouldn't have waited a week to tell the customers their information was potentially compromised. That little press conference they had to "apologize" was nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt.

 

[Ryank1908]

The bowing is a big deal, sure, and an apology is always welcome in the wake of a loss of service. However, I can't say I'll be jumping up to pat them on the back immediately; they were attacked so of course it's not some major offense on their part, but such a successful attack denotes lackluster security. When you're dealing with millions of paying customers' private information that, upon being jeapardised, could cause them no small amount of cost and grief, an apology will not erase the issue - be it welcome or not.