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Sony Delays PlayStation Network Reactivation

Posted by timothy on from the toes-in-the-hostile-waters dept.

i4u writes "Earlier this week chatter in an IRC network led to speculation of a third attack on Sony's network. For its part, the company steadfastly promised that at least some services would resume by the end of this week. But now it looks like Sony has given up on that goal. The PSN reactivation has been delayed. Sony's explanation? They were 'unaware' of the extent of the attacks on their system."

8 of 317 comments (clear)

  1. Not Aware? by Squiddie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well, what ARE they doing scheduling reactivation if they are not aware of the extent of the attacks? Something tells me that Sony just has poor handle on everything security related.

    1. Re:Not Aware? by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I've seen hamsters escape.
      I've seen chips use tools at the zoo.

      Don't degrade them by lumping them in with Sony Security.

    2. Re:Not Aware? by node+3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, what ARE they doing scheduling reactivation if they are not aware of the extent of the attacks? Something tells me that Sony just has poor handle on everything security related.

      Really? This is something you are berating Sony for?

      They are doing the exact right thing here. First, they assessed the damage and worked to get PSN up as fast as possible. During that process, they discovered that the intrusion was more extensive than they thought, and instead of simply bringing PSN back up on their original schedule, they are allowing new information to alter their plans.

      If this were some Linux archive, like for example sourceforge, or the Debian repositories, and they did the exact same thing, you'd be heaping praise upon them for doing the right thing and not adhering to bullshit corporate image demands, but since it's Sony who's doing the right thing, it must be bad somehow, right?

    3. Re:Not Aware? by node+3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wow, this is a new low for Slashdot. I'm a "shill" for not being a fucking moron who thinks it's impossible for Sony to ever do anything right? When your shit gets hacked, you take it offline until you can put it back up safely. This isn't being a "shill", it's just being rational and not being a whiny little bitch just because we are supposed to hate some company.

    4. Re:Not Aware? by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 5, Funny

      I always figured 3 chimps and a hamster were far more likely to randomly type out some Perl than they would Shakespeare.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
  2. I know what's holding everything up. by Lose · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're having problems re-sorting all their credit card data stored on the admin's desktop by penis again. They must not have taken a screenshot.

    This could take ages.

  3. Re:Who & Why by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My suspicion(totally without any unusual knowledge, of course) is that it is a mixture: The core penetrations, and the exfiltration of CC details and other identity-thefty stuff look a lot like the usual commercially motivated electronic criminal activity. However, the sorts of people who do that are opportunists, and generally not morons: Sony's current deep unpopularity with a segment of ideological hackers/bored 4channers likely provides both a certain amount of 'free' security testing done by third parties and then dumped into forums and chatrooms, there for the taking, and provides a certain amount of concealment: If only through sheer bulk, wading through all the not-too-competent attacks mounted by assorted under-18s who would probably get a month in juvy and are barely worth hunting down, in order to pick out the sophisticated operators is going to be rather more difficult than just finding the sophisticated operators.

    As for the support/goodwill thing, I suspect that those doing the attacks aren't really interested in that. The professional thieves, of course, don't care; because they are there for the money. Any ideological attackers don't care because they are there to make Sony bleed and/or clearly demonstrate the vulnerability of services and hardware cryptographically locked to a single service. The support of Sony's customers is worthless to them; because(by design) Sony's customers have basically no power. Creating as much angst and suffering among those customers, on the other hand(in addition to any amusement that might be derived) hurts Sony's commercial standing.

  4. Translating corporate-speak by Animats · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sony:

    "We're still working to confirm the security of the network infrastructure, as well as working with a variety of outside entities to confirm with them of the security of the system. Verifying the system security is vital for the process of restoration. Additional comprehensive system checks and testing are still required, and we must complete that process before bringing the systems online."

    To understand this, read VISA International's "What to Do if Compromised..

    "Working with a variety of outside entities to confirm with them of the security of the system." means VISA International and/or MasterCard, Inc have invoked their contractual rights to send in auditors, security experts, and computer forensics experts. They do that for big security breaches. "Additional comprehensive system checks and testing are still required, and we must complete that process before bringing the systems online." means "VISA, etc. won't let us go back on line until we pass their security tests."

    So Sony isn't entirely in control of when they go back on line.