PSN Up, And Then Down Again

RdeCourtney writes "The PlayStation Network is down again. Sony had originally enabled passwords to be reset onscreen simply by entering an email address and date of birth. Whoever has the data from Sony, could, in theory, then reset any of the captured users accounts simply by entering the details they stole."

Comments

That's some fine police work, boys

[elrous0]

I've never been a particularly big fan of Sony, mind you. But even I am shocked by the level of security incompetence they've shown over this whole thing. This is a major corporation, for fuck's sake! Do they even *have* a full-time security staff in there online division? Their press releases make it sound like they only stumbled on the whole PSN hack by accident and had to run out and contract for a bunch of security people. Surely to god they had SOMEONE monitoring security, right?

As one of the effected users, I'm just glad I never gave them my credit card number (fortunately, I never bought anything on PSN). Now, I wouldn't give them a credit card number on a *dare*. Hell, I won't even give them my real *name* ever again. No online system is secure, but theirs looks like a complete joke.

Meanwhile, you have the CEO of the company dismissing this whole thing as a "hiccup," which pretty aptly demonstrates just how seriously Sony apparently takes its security. No way I want my CC number or private info involved in their next "hiccup."

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[Moryath]

Be careful.

Last time I pointed out how bad this was, a bunch of Sony Fanbois downmodded me.

They seem to spend far more money on faked astroturf ad campaigns than they do on security, anyways. Remember the PSP incidents?

The Sony Fanbois today are pretty much a standing example of FanDumb... not surprising since anyone with any sense jumped ship from Sony a long while ago.

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[h4rr4r]

But even I am shocked by the level of security incompetence they've shown over this whole thing. This is a major corporation, for fuck's sake!

The reason they are like this is because they are a major corporation. Anything smaller could not survive such a fiasco. Security costs money, it is the first thing out the window in a major corporation.

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[elrous0]

It would take a pretty damned die-hard fanboy to be defending them at this point. About the best anyone can say is "Well, at least we got some free games out of it." Hell, everyone should get a free copy of L.A. Noire at this point, instead of just some old games. I think we're beyond the "Sorry about that, here's a free coupon" stage of fuckup.

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[cobrausn]

The reason they are like this is because they are a major corporation. Anything smaller could not survive such a fiasco. Security costs money, it is the first thing out the window in a major corporation.

This logic fails to pass the smell test. Amazon is a major corporation, and they have proven to be quite secure. And if security costs money, why do only small companies (who don't have the capital to spare) have security? Surely they would try to save some money here and there and possibly consider cutting security measures.

Big corporations can be guilty of many things, but this seems more like anti-corporate ranting than an 'Insightful' analysis of the situation.

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[Moryath]

Oh do shut up.

PS3 users weren't able to play any game requiring an online component. When the vast majority of them are PO'ed because they haven't been able to get on the various Call of Duty servers, that's no small problem.

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[overlordofmu]

Jumped ship to what? Not the Wii.

What is the other option, as the Wii is not a current generation system?

The choices are PS3, PC Gaming or an Xbox2? Let me rephrase that. The choices are Sony, Microsoft or Microsoft.

I pick Sony. You pick Microsoft. Both companies do some evil shit. We are both sleeping with the devil.

Possibility: Neither of us is gaming with a moral company with top notch security practices.

Do you agree with that possibility?

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[cpu6502]

>>>the Wii is not a current generation system...The choices are PS3, PC Gaming or an Xbox2

Now that's what I call trolling. The Wii was released in 2006 (just a few months after PS3 and Xbox360). It sits side-by-side on store shelves with those other consoles. It is the SAME generation as they are, and in point of fact, the Nintendo Wii is the #1 seller of this generation. That places it in the same category as these other #1 sellers from previous decades:

PS2
PS1
Super Nintendo
Nintendo ES
Atari VCS/2600

To sit there and say "Wii is not current generation" makes you look like a fucking fool.

Re:That's some fine police work, boys

[cpu6502]

I boycotted Sony (or more correctly: PS3) when I find-out they removed the ability to play my old PS1/2 games on the new unit. All incentive to upgrade disappeared.

Then there was the whole "We installed software from your CD to your computer w/o telling you" bullshit. As far as I am concerned, that act should have been a jailable offense. The United States DOJ and European Commission should find the upper-level managers responsible for making that decision, prosecute them under US and EU Law for hacking, and then throw away the key.

Sony's security team is an abysmal failure

[digitaldc]

Did Sony's security team even THINK about testing and verifying they were doing was indeed secure when they brought the system back up again?

Sounds like the corporate culture over at Sony is horrible. First the DRM scandal, then the PSN hack and now this.

Duh.

[jdkramar]

One way to verify who you are is to either require you reset your password from the console you last connected to the PSN with or just send an email to the email address they have stored... Because, theoretically neither of those items are accessible to the hackers.

When you are stupid...

[haapi]

... it's not just for a day.
-- B. D.