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Sony Suffers Yet More Security Breaches
Oldcynic writes "As Sony struggles to restore the Playstation Network we receive news today of another breach, this time at Sony Ericsson in Canada. 'Sony Corp. spokesman Atsuo Omagari said Wednesday that names, email and encrypted passwords may have been stolen from the Sony Ericsson Canada website, but no credit card information was taken.'
Another group managed to penetrate Sony Entertainment Japan yesterday as well. I almost feel bad for them.
I've always said that Sony is the most control-freak tech company in the world (making even Nintendo and Apple look sedate by comparison), a company that would happily shoot itself in the foot rather than lose even an *inch* of control of it's media, it's IT, or its technology.
From the rootkit fiasco, their obsessive lockdown of blu-ray (which of course, was cracked), and (many) assorted other lawsuits--Sony has established itself as the kind of company who would happily put a spycamera in everyone's home to make sure that no one is watching a pirated copy of Spiderman 3 (though why anyone would want to watch even a free version of that or just about any other Sony movie is beyond me).
But now they've removed a little-used and fairly innocuous Linux feature from the PS3, and then busted a guy who jailbroke the machine in response. Not only did they send in thugs to kick his door down and take all his shit (then strongarm him into admitting guilt to something that, before the DMCA, wouldn't even be considered a crime), but they even went as far as to try to force ISP's to hand over the identities of everyone who even DISCUSSED the hack on his website or blog.
Well, was it worth it, Sony?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
It's not sad to see this happening considering their reputation for the past 10 years. You cannot continually screw your revenue sources and expect to remain on top of the pyramid. Eventually it will all fallout from underneath you, one way or another.
Period.
From TFA:
"E-mail, password, and names of thousands of users were exposed via text file"
Why...why...WHY do people still insist on plain text passwords? Have these people ever heard of a hash? There is 0 reason ever to store a plaintext password, end of story. Anyone who designs a system that stores passwords in plain text should be fired on the spot.
Monstar L
Seriously, how long until Sony head office just tells every department to yank their network cables until a full security audit is done? This is just embarrassing at this point.
Feel bad for them? The fuck? "They" are a corporation, whose only reason for existence is to make money. Sure, there might be individuals working there with morals, but the company itself has none at all--regardless of what US law says, it's not a person.
This corporation has spied on, sued, made vulnerable to other attacks, and bullied its customers, potential customers, competitors, and little bald children with cancer who were lying in a bed that Sony had to put its muddy boot up on to tie its laces. And, probably because it thought it could get away with overworking or undertraining its net admins, it cut corners when it came to security. The security of its customers' credit card info. Who, after all the bullshit Sony pulled, still paid for their shit, and put their credit at risk, unlike those who "stole" from Sony, who won't have what they bought taken away at the first whim, who aren't badgered every time they want to watch a movie on a different device, who don't have to sit through unskippable guilt-trips and FBI warnings, and don't have to pay again when the disc gets scratched.
Almost feel bad for them? Ha! I'm not even close to feeling bad for them. There is no possible amount of "suffering" that could make me feel bad for them. Call me when Sony wakes up one morning with a pain in its left arm and is forced to face its own mortality.
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
More likely a lot of separate individuals/groups who want to join in on the Sony bashing trend.
which is totally what she said
Why extract the database of users' information if your goal is only to give a slap in the face to the evil corporation?
It's almost as if the goal of this criminal activity wasn't heroic anti-corporatist hactivism at all...
OMG!!! Ponies!!!
I wonder if this rise in internet vigilante-ism is going to birth a corporate funded internet version of the Pinkertons. I.E. a group of black hat hackers paid by big corporations to hunt down and ruin groups like Anonymous through less than legal means.
I wouldn't put it past the entrenched powers to use whatever means necessary to get this done (ie, either digital brown-shirts, or burning down the commons through excessive and unconstitutional legislation that's been "purchased"). I'm guessing it'll be a combination of both, but in the short term, expect more of the "internet death sentence" type of reaction.
I do posit this is going to get much worse. Every day, it feels like the seemingly paranoid rants by RMS seem more like the prophetic prognostications of a Cassandra who's seen the future hoping to help us avoid it.
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