U.S. Senator Blasts Sony for Keeping Breach Secret

[SaintWaldo]

While I'm certainly glad that Sen. Blumenthal feels for the good people who may suffer from the PlayStation Network breach, I'm pretty sure that most of this controversy will blow over without hackers suddenly buying tons of pr0n with your credit card. Sony should do something to make up for its gaffe, that's for sure, but the harsh language of the United States Senator feels a little overblown.

Where was vehemence like this after the banking crisis of 2008? I mean, this is just pennies compared to the trillions of dollars wasted to save banks like Bear Stearns, Bank of America and AIG. I know it's apples to oranges, but I kind of wish we could all take a deep breath and realize that the PSN kerfuffle is not the end of the world.

Nice. Could not agree more with your call for perspective. Keep doing that.

 

[Echo136]

To be honest I hope that Sony doesnt have to provide these services, and I own a PS3. The cost of having to provide all that would be crippling, to say the least, and I want to see Sony successfully move into the next console generation.

 

[Vanbael]

Ah, finally. When I saw this hit CBS, I know the not so technologically minded senators would jump in. I do admire the protection of the people, and I do think that Sony should give us better explanations. But I'm still waiting of that Paul Harvey voice to come in and say "And now, for the Rest of the Story." This isn't finished for sure.
Also, only a Democrat would vouch for the gamers. Plus one my vote towards their party.

 

[MattAn24]

In response, Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut (Go Huskies!) wrote a stern letter to the President of Sony Computer Entertainment of America stating that SCEA knew about the breach as early as April 20th. Sony's failure to promptly disclose the theft is a serious fault by the company, and Blumenthal thinks it should now offer insurance for any financial impact of the breach, as well as pay the costs of credit reporting and financial security services for every customer whose vital information was leaked.

I call bullshit on this. How the hell does a U.S Senator KNOW that SCEA KNEW about the breach of personal info. Yes, they knew the PSN was taken down and they actually reported it as a possible threat from malicious hackers. I definitely read that report.

But knowing HOW it was taken down and WHAT was uncovered? This Senator is full of shit..

 

[2fish]

Right another reason to just use those cards that are sold at every store known to man (here at leaset) and avoid putting my card numbers online with PS3 or 360. I put my faith in cardboard over internet security .

Sony this sucks for you and if you did withhold information I think the government will be the least of your worries, angry consumers are scary .

 

[Ghengis John]

[And if they had confirmation that the info was breached a week ago, and held it back, they should be held accountable.

I have to agree with this. As for this:

Where was vehemence like this after the banking crisis of 2008? I mean, this is just pennies compared to the trillions of dollars wasted to save banks like Bear Stearns, Bank of America and AIG. I know it's apples to oranges, but I kind of wish we could all take a deep breath and realize that the PSN kerfuffle is not the end of the world.

It's not just apples and oranges. It's night and day. The bailout was and still is a hotly contested decision, with analysts on both sides decrying and supporting the initiative. This is a far less contestable dereliction of responsibility. While many people exist who will insist the bailout was essential to shoring up the economy I don't think you can find a similar corps willing to argue sony had every right to cover up it's security goof for as long as possible.

Edit:

Greg, your closing arguements come off as somewhat ignorant. It'd be interesting to see how different your opinion would be were you the victim of identity theft due to this scandel.

I have to agree with this guy. Though I applaud your usage of kerfuffle.

 

[MattAn24]

This kind of fast reaction makes me wonder if the good Senator is a PS gamer..?

My money is on "a Senator who already despises video games and wants to take down any and all form of it, even if it means siding with butt-hurt gamers to garner attention and possible votes".

 

[Casual Shinji]

Agreed on the banks of 2008. And if they did know and held back the info then I agree that they should be in trouble. But don't forget who's fault it is in the first place.

I think Sony is already in serious trouble over this whether it's their fault or not.

 

[dagens24]

Greg, your closing arguements come off as somewhat ignorant. It'd be interesting to see how different your opinion would be were you the victim of identity theft due to this scandel.

 

[Awexsome]

Agreed on the banks of 2008. And if they did know and held back the info then I agree that they should be in trouble. But don't forget who's fault it is in the first place.

I think Sony is already in serious trouble over this whether it's their fault or not.

Politicians are really good at making shit up so unless they have proof I trust them as much as any other random "expert" I'd find on a random internet forum.

But so long as Sony had no solid confirmation that there was a breach until recently they shouldn't be. You don't blame the bank for getting robbed.

 

[shintakie10]

[And if they had confirmation that the info was breached a week ago, and held it back, they should be held accountable.

I have to agree with this. As for this:

Where was vehemence like this after the banking crisis of 2008? I mean, this is just pennies compared to the trillions of dollars wasted to save banks like Bear Stearns, Bank of America and AIG. I know it's apples to oranges, but I kind of wish we could all take a deep breath and realize that the PSN kerfuffle is not the end of the world.

It's not just apples and oranges. It's night and day. The bailout was and still is a hotly contested decision, with analysts on both sides decrying and supporting the initiative. This is a far less contestable dereliction of responsibility. While many people exist who will insist the bailout was essential to shoring up the economy I don't think you can find a similar corp willing to argue sony had every right to cover up it's security goof for as long as possible.

In complete agreement with you here. I was about to make a post about that actually, then realized I wouldnt be able to say it without soundin like a jerk.

For me this is about the larger issue of internet security. In the olden days you actually had to resort to physically goin to a place to steal information. Nowadays there is so much of peoples information just sittin on the net with little to no protection and even the protections we do have are pretty weak when compared to the abilities of many hackers out there. As far as I know the laws of the land havent kept up with technology and there is little to no recourse to take against companies that fail to protect your information outside of PR issues that crop up from it. Companies must be held responsible if they have our personal data on hand like that. If they lose our data or have it stolen, everythin that follows should be completely on their head.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Agreed on the banks of 2008. And if they did know and held back the info then I agree that they should be in trouble. But don't forget who's fault it is in the first place.

I think Sony is already in serious trouble over this whether it's their fault or not.

Politicians are really good at making shit up so unless they have proof I trust them as much as any other random "expert" I'd find on a random internet forum.

But so long as Sony had no solid confirmation that there was a breach until recently they shouldn't be. You don't blame the bank for getting robbed.

I'm not blaming Sony. Christ, I don't even know who the hell to point my finger at anymore.

Regardless, it's clear Sony has a big stinking mess to clean up. And the smell is undoubtably going to stick with them for a long time to come.

 

[FalloutJack]

That seems like an over reaction, but was I the only one amazed that a politician even knew about it? I guess his assistant told him or something, but still.
And what proof do we have of when they knew how big the breach was?

Man probably watches THIS SITE.

Still, I needn't worry. You see, I never put my card number up there.

 

[Vanbael]

-snip snip-
You guys should check out the man's <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Blumenthal#Attorney_General_career>Wikipedia page. He makes a habit of standing up for the little people, and Sony isn't the first Software giant he's thrown down with.

Ah, thanks for connecting the dots on this one sir. So given his history now I sense a bias against big wigs. Me no likey bias. So I'll stand up for myself in my own way. But until the full report gets pried from Sony, I'll just be watching my finances.

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

I'm more outraged by the fact that escapist can use the word kerfluffle in a sentence and keep a straight face.

 

[Kaymish]

really this guy doesn't care he is just pissed off that he hasn't gotten his bribe yet so is making a kerfuffle that is quite moderate in the grand sachem of things

my 2 cents i think sony did the right thing and released the info once they got to that point in the logs maybe they found out a day or so ago at the most not because they are nice that would be foolish to think mostly because they know that they are going to be looked at quite closely for this and cant afford to make any stuff ups