Tough Times for Sony's PSN

Folks, as much as I wanna talk about ether the NPD or Nintendo's upcoming Console system, it seems more appropriate to talk about the PSN.

PSN, short for Playstation Network, has been down since Tuesday of last week. No one knows when it will come back online. But the bad news keeps piling worst than the amount of hangovers that Lindsay Lohan gets. First bad news is that Sony's data may have been compromised

In a recent PlayStation Blog update, Sony says that while its "still investigating the details of this incident" it believes that an "unauthorized person" may have obtained your private information. By "information," it means basically everything: your name, address, country, email address, birthday, and your login and password. Also possible: this person has your credit card information if you provided your data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity.

"Out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained," writes Sony's Patrick Seybold.

That's scary. Having your personal info, especially your credit card, compromised by hackers. My advice is to check with your credit card company in case of any compromise. And in some cases, you may have to ask your company to cancel your card and issue you a new one.

But Sony's problems are just beginning. The leak of data could cost Sony $24 billion

In an article today, Forbes cites data-security research firm The Ponemon Institute as estimating the "cost of a data breach involving a malicious or criminal act" was, on average, $318 per compromised account. Given the most recent PSN population estimate, that formula puts the potential cost as being over $24 billion.

The 2009 Ponemon Institute study that determined the figure, available here, "takes into account a wide range of business costs, including expense outlays for detection, escalation, notification, and after the fact (ex-post) response. [Ponemon] also analyze[s] the economic impact of lost or diminished customer trust and confidence, measured by customer churn or turnover rates."

Oooh. And I thought the Government handles their finances badly. Sony's gonna need some Reaganomics to get out of this mess. However, there is some good news from GameSpot.

On the bright side, Sony did say that some PSN services should be restored within a week. Then, late yesterday, it offered some answers as to why it took so long for the company to announce that users' personal data may have been accessed by an outside party.

Within the Week. That means you can get back to playing your favorite games online and in harmony, unlike the XBL users who curse like drunken sailors. But apparently, a Democratic Senator from Connecticut is now breathing down Sony's neck

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal is "demanding answers" about why Sony Computer Entertainment of America failed to inform customers of the data breach of the PlayStation Network on April 20.

"When a data breach occurs, it is essential that customers be immediately notified about whether and to what extent their personal and financial information has been compromised," Blumenthal said in a release. "Compounding this concern is the troubling lack of notification from Sony about the nature of the data breach."

How dare you interfere with Sony's rights to police itself. Lemme remind you that any interference is considered unAmerican, even if someone filed a lawsuit against em.

Sony Corp.’s network entertainment unit was sued by a PlayStation customer claiming it failed to protect users’ personal information and credit-card data that the company says may have been stolen by a hacker.

Err. Wow. So who is the Plantiff?

The plaintiff, Kristopher Johns, of Birmingham, Alabama, seeks to represent all affected users in a class-action suit.

Reimbursement, Refunds

He asked for reimbursement for losses from credit-card data theft, payment for credit monitoring for all plaintiffs, refunds for defective services and PlayStations and unspecified punitive damages.

Patrick Seybold, a Sony spokesman, didn’t immediately reply to a voice-mail message seeking comment.

Sony, I think you're gonna need Donald Trump's help on this. Well now Microsoft fanboys are laughing at us for this.

1)For the past week, Sony's PlayStation Network has been offline with no timetable as to when it will return. An external attack has compromised users' personal information and has left more than 75 million users unable to connect. Now Microsoft is experiencing its own online problems.

Modern Warfare 2 is suffering phishing attacks, it seems.

While the problem is not as wide-ranging as Sony's takedown, Microsoft today issued a Service Alert for Xbox Live to warn users of a security risk. The alert states that matchmaking has been affected by a phishing attempt inside Infinity Ward's shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.


2)Microsoft appears to have temporarily lifted the Xbox Live ban on people who own a modified Xbox 360.

Reports on NeoGAF and Xbox-Scene show that applicable gamers were, for a short time, able to log back into Xbox Live.

That privilege now seems to have, once more, been revoked.

Why did this happen?

Nobody knows. The popular consensus is that it was a result of Microsoft testing its own security in the wake of the entire PlayStation Network being compromised.

However, some people also suggest it is because Xbox Live, too, has been breached.

The Xbox Live Status page shows only a Service Alert for Matchmaking; Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace and Account are all green-ticked.

Microsoft was unavailable for comment.

OOPS! Who's laughing now fanboys?

Works Cited:
Destructoid
Gamespot
Joystiq
BusinessWeek
Cnet
Eurogamer