Sony's Plan To Tighten Security and Fight Hacktivism

mask.of.sanity writes "Sony Entertainment Network is rebuilding its information security posture to defend against hacktivism. It includes a security operations center that serves as a nerve center collating information on everything from staff phone calls, to CCTV, to PlayStation gamers. If it is successful, the counter intelligence-based system will be deployed across the entire company. 'At Sony, we are modifying our programs to deal less with state-sponsored [attacks] and more with socially-motivated hackers. It will be different,' said Chief Security Officer Brett Wahlin."

Comments

*clap* *clap*

[FrozenFood]

good for them

pity I wont buy another sony product ever again.

Re:*clap* *clap*

[Anonymous Coward]

I would use the term "corporate entitlement" for it. They think the world owes them money because they produce luxury products. Bioware are doing exactly the same thing when their latest title has a bunch of shortcuts and removed (unless you pay extra) content. But in their head space they are entitled to do whatever they want and you are just a source of income who is allowed no opinion or input.

Corporations have figured out the public doesn't listen to the news any more. Their own greed is too high and self control too low, so Sony can pretty much piss in your face and demand you pay for it and the public will only see a shower and pay the price.

Re:*clap* *clap*

[Aerorae]

Isn't that kinda how these big businesses work in general these days? Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Samsung, Motorola, Oracle, Intel, Dell, etc? I guess I'm just saying if someone has an issue with Sony they probably have an issue with the whole industry & it's practices, not /just/ Sony...

Re:*clap* *clap*

[Anonymous Coward]

I think once a business reaches a certain critical mass, evil is inevitable.

Are there any companies in the Fortune 500 (or even Fortune 1000) that aren't complete monsters?

Actually, it's more narrow than than. Once a company is _public_ then the shareholders can demand profits which can only be returned though unethical or evil actions.

Google does good things right now. But I have no doubt that when the current board and management of Google retires, they'll be 1000 more evil than a 3-way merger between Monsanto, News Corporation and North Korea.

Re:*clap* *clap*

[TheSkepticalOptimist]

LMFAO

Apple created a walled garden which locks you into using their hardware AND their distribution mechanism.

With the release of iMatch, Apple has effectively implemented an new type of DRM, one where their proprietary content can be streamed over to their proprietary devices. Apple didn't remove DRM from music, they just changed the way music and media is distributed to iUsers.

But DRM on music hasn't worked for 20 years, that is why Apple claimed to remove it. How about why can't I play iTunes Movies on my non-Apple device? Why hasn't Apple removed DRM from movies and TV shows? Apple had nothing to do with removing DRM, the industry decided music was a lost cause to protect. The movie industry has not realized this yet which is why the force Apple to enable DRM for their movie content.

Apple had a marketing slogan "Rip. Mix. Burn.", yes, music only. Blu-Ray is a MOVIE format, Apple does not allow support to burn their movie and TV show content.

"Apple has a Cloud service which mirrors your music to all your devices", yes, Apple devices only,
If Apple were heroes, they would open iTunes to support any device, so you could stream media to non-Apple products. The would also support ANY media type on their platform. No chance this is ever going to happen.

Apple also DICTATES what software can run on iOS. Any competitive service is prevented from being distributed on iDevices. If you are going to start whipping out Apple examples, don't ignore the "bad" stuff.

So, don't claim Apple is a hero and Sony is a villain. Apple has become one of the most evil companies that is quickly tightening their stranglehold to create a monopoly where they control hardware, software AND content, but the iMasses are so orgasmic over Apple they are not seeing this clearly.

It is absolutely retarded that people see Sony as evil and Apple as heroes when BOTH companies are trying to do the EXACT same thing, create a walled garden locking users into their platform. The difference is that Apple was a lot slicker (re slimey) and more successful to accomplish this vs Sony.

Sony has a right to protect their online services. This is not about them trying to create more DRM, this is about them preventing fucktards of hacking into their online services and ruining them for people that just want to play a game or rent a movie. Yeah, Sony is evil for that. Whether Sony has learned from past mistakes, it is yet to be seen, but they are learning that they cannot have a viable content system if their users loose faith in their ability to protect those online systems.

While I don't want to support walled gardens, I support any other company trying to compete with Apple, but Apple has a "lets crush them!" mentality and I am very afraid that 10 years from now you can only buy content through iTunes (controlled and set by Apple pricing schemes) and run them on iDevices (controlled and set by Apple pricing schemes).

If that is not the sign of an evil, selfish and greedy corporation, then you have your head stuck in the sand.

wrong medication

[Anonymous Coward]

This is treating the symptom not the problem.

Re:Wrong way of thinking

[Sir_Sri]

That seems utterly impractical. The barrier to entry for attempting to hack is sufficiently low that any big company will offend people eventually, no matter what it does. Made a game I don't like, use boxes that are too large for shipping? Price a product some jackass feels entitled to at a point more than they can afford. Etc. etc. etc.

Sure, sony has earned a lot of their current hate. But every company has to realize that they will offend someone eventually, if nothing else than the thrill of trying to hack a big company.

From http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/index.html
The largets US Companies in 2011
Wal-Mart Stores
Exxon Mobil
Chevron
ConocoPhillips
Fannie Mae
General Electric
Berkshire Hathaway
General Motors
Bank of America
Ford Motor

I challenge you to find anyone on that list that hasn't pissed off a lot of people, intentionally or otherwise, and legitimately or otherwise, but there are still a lot of angry people at them. And you can keep going down the list.

Sony isn't any different, and even if they change their ways, people will still believe them evil a decade from now. But I don't think you do 100 billion dollars a year in business and not make enough people angry to cause all sorts of hacking problems. Even Warren Buffet has made enemies because he thinks he makes too much money and should be taxed more.

Sony's CSO has invented time travel!

[dstone]

TFA claims that Sony's new CSO, Brett Wahlin, "served as a counter-intelligence officer in the US Military for eight years during the Cold War." The final year of the cold war is generally agreed to be 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved. This suggests he started working as a C-I officer no later than 1984. Yet the photo in his recent bio suggests he's in his early 40s now. So either 1) he's a prodigy and worked for the US military during high school, or 2) he can travel in time. Either way, the hacktivists might have met their match! Well played, Sony.