Sony offers identity theft protection, little news on PSN relaunch
Today is Friday, and the PlayStation Network has yet to be restored, not even to limited functionality. Sony has given us a flurry of updates describing the steps being taken to get the service back up, the company has announced that PlayStation Network members will be given a year of identity theft protection, and Sony CEO Howard Stringer has offered another apology. But the question gamers want answered is simple: when will we be able to play our games online?
"We understand that many of you are eager to again enjoy the PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services that you love, so we wanted you to be aware of this milestone and our progress. We will provide additional updates as soon as we can," he continued.
"It's a fair question," Stringer wrote. He repeated that the services were shut down once the attack was detected. "I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had—or had not—been taken."
In a play for sympathy, Stringer also brought up the tsunami and earthquakes in his letters. "In the last few months, Sony has faced a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But now we are facing a very man-made event... and we are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible."
What Sony will not do is send a representative to answer questions from government officials about the intrusion, a move that drew criticism at a recent hearing on data theft.
Stringer did include one more apology to consumers affected by the outage. "As a company we—and I—apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack. Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible."
Think of how frustrating this has been for gamers who purchased Portal 2 and have yet to play co-op. Or gamers who may have a weekly gaming sessions with friends spread across the country. It's a simple thing to order a new credit card and change your passwords, but when we buy a game we expect it to work online. We want to play it right the heck now, and some gamers are going to be flat out angry after an outage this long. Meanwhile, Sony continues to raise the ire of Anonymous by placing some blame on the group for the intrusion, and a third attack is rumored for this weekend.
This is where Sony could lose gamers: not to a fear of security, but in the feeling that the PlayStation Network isn't a reliable way to play games with friends. This is going to be a very awkward E3 for Kevin Butler.
Courtesy Ars Technica
Sony will be offering gamers identity theft protection
In the next few days, all PlayStation Network members in the United States will be sent an e-mail with a code for 12 months of free identity theft protection from Debix Inc. You will need to use the code to sign up for the service before June 18. Here's what the program will include, but Sony notes that the protection is not "limited to" these features:- Cyber monitoring and surveillance of the Internet to detect exposure of an AllClear ID Plus customer's personal information, including monitoring of criminal web sites and data recovered by law enforcement. If his/her personal information is found, the customer will be alerted by phone and/or email and will be provided advice and support regarding protective steps to take. The customer will also receive monthly identity status reports. Debix works with an alliance of cyber-crime experts from the government, academia and industry to provide these services.
- Priority access to licensed private investigators and identity restoration specialists. If an AllClear ID Plus customer receives an alert, or otherwise suspects that he/she may be the victim of identity theft, the customer can speak directly, on a priority basis, with an on-staff licensed private investigator, who will conduct a comprehensive inquiry. In the case of an identity theft, the customer can work with an identity restoration specialist to contact creditors and others, and take necessary steps to restore the customer's identity.
- A $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user to provide additional protection in the event that an AllClear ID Plus customer becomes a victim of identity theft. This insurance would provide financial relief of up to $1 million for covered identity restoration costs, legal defense expenses, and lost wages that occur within 12 months after the stolen identity event.
"We understand that many of you are eager to again enjoy the PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services that you love, so we wanted you to be aware of this milestone and our progress. We will provide additional updates as soon as we can," he continued.
Life is hard for Sony
In a letter published on the PlayStation Blog, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer explained why it took so long for news of the attack to get to the customers whose information was stolen, responding to criticism that they sat on the information."It's a fair question," Stringer wrote. He repeated that the services were shut down once the attack was detected. "I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had—or had not—been taken."
In a play for sympathy, Stringer also brought up the tsunami and earthquakes in his letters. "In the last few months, Sony has faced a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But now we are facing a very man-made event... and we are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible."
What Sony will not do is send a representative to answer questions from government officials about the intrusion, a move that drew criticism at a recent hearing on data theft.
Stringer did include one more apology to consumers affected by the outage. "As a company we—and I—apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack. Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible."
The extended outage could be the problem, not a symptom
While Sony is doing a good thing in offering a year of identity theft protection, the fact that we still don't know when we'll be able to play online again is troubling. We were told some services would be relaunching this week, and as of publication it seems as if Sony is telling us the wait will continue into the weekend. But even if the credit cards are safe and customers will be protected against identity theft, the company has still lost a large amount of trust.Think of how frustrating this has been for gamers who purchased Portal 2 and have yet to play co-op. Or gamers who may have a weekly gaming sessions with friends spread across the country. It's a simple thing to order a new credit card and change your passwords, but when we buy a game we expect it to work online. We want to play it right the heck now, and some gamers are going to be flat out angry after an outage this long. Meanwhile, Sony continues to raise the ire of Anonymous by placing some blame on the group for the intrusion, and a third attack is rumored for this weekend.
This is where Sony could lose gamers: not to a fear of security, but in the feeling that the PlayStation Network isn't a reliable way to play games with friends. This is going to be a very awkward E3 for Kevin Butler.
Courtesy Ars Technica
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