Credit Card Breach May Cost Sony $24 Billion

[Sentox6]

Xbox Live it's plausible but I'm very confident with Steam's security.

I mean it has been running financial transactions since 2003 and I am very impressed by all the many layers of robust security the servie offers.

Exactly what network security expertise do you have that lets you draw the conclusion that Steam is safe but XBL is susceptible? End-user account security isn't the same thing as internal database security, for one.

Sony's fatal mistake seems to be the assumption the PS3 would always remain locked down... till Geo-Hotz cracked it open. Like EVERY consumer device before or since PS3 was released. They get cracked eventually. Sony has a fundamentally flawed ideology of network security, they expect the end elements to be "good" but then trust them too much and one one is crack you have way WAY too open access to the network with trivial barriers after that.

Which leads me to this. PS3 jailbreaking almost certainly had nothing to do with this attack on PSN. Modified PS3 firmware does not magically equal access to Sony's entire user database.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

The PS1 and hell, even the first Xbox and PS2 were consoles, not PCs stuck in a small plastic case.
There was no direct link between let's say, Soul Calibur 3 and Half Life.
Consoles were what they were designed to be, toys.
Ain't nothing wrong with that, I still play with my PS2.

I must be clinically thick because I don't get what the problem is then. You said that, in another post, the problem isn't the hardware. You also implied that your problem is that the games are all flash and no substance.

But now you're saying that it is the hardware because consoles (which have always been just small PCs with a closed system) are the issue because they're no longer just toys.

Am I understanding you correctly? If I am, how is that a problem?

(And, yes, among my systems over the last 30 years, I have been a PC gamer.)

 

[Ainsley Bartlett]

I think it's an exciting time to be into gaming, I know some people have a problem with pc/360/ps3 gamers, but soon it's not going to matter what product someone is playing on. With attempts like Valve's to move past platform rivalry, soon it's only going to matter if the console/pc can run the game or not (Yes, I'm making the assumption that Portal 2 will work well with cross platform running once PSN is back up and running).

 

[Carnagath]

So, speaking my mind in a civilized manner is now considered an inflammatory statement? Sarcasm is no longer acceptable?
My oh, my...whatever shall I do? Also, as long as ANY statement is about the topic at hand, how exactly is it derailing the discussion?

Well, they DID buy a PS3...
That, in and of itself does not prove mental incapacity, but it does go a long way towards that...

I don't even need to say anything. I wasn't even referring specifically to you, you are only one of the several people who decided to bring their juvenille 2006-era console war gibberish into threads that are not about that. You are contributing nothing to the discussion and you are also personally offending others for no apparent reason other than the fact that you appear to be upset over something. Go troll elsewhere. Your kind is not welcome here.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

I think it's an exciting time to be into gaming, I know some people have a problem with pc/360/ps3 gamers, but soon it's not going to matter what product someone is playing on. With attempts like Valve's to move past platform rivalry, soon it's only going to matter if the console/pc can run the game or not (Yes, I'm making the assumption that Portal 2 will work well with cross platform running once PSN is back up and running).

There's good and bad. For example:

Good: Right now, the industry is putting out games that really stretch the boundarys. Flower (a game that I eventually bought) was a game that I couldn't decide whether I liked or not because I had no "hooks" (Ex: FPS games can be compared to other FPS games that I have played in the past, etc) to compare it to. It is interesting to see how game makers are going beyond the traditional boundaries of what a game has meant to a point that, after 30 years of gaming, I come across something that I have no reference points to compare it to.

Bad: The continuing move to Digital Distribution means that the gamer is increasingly just leasing the game with all that the loss of actual ownership means. For example, Sin Episodes had numerous people complain that they weren't able to just recklessly charge two heavies with miniguns. Thusly, a patch was released through Steam which allowed the possibility of survival for this sort of brain-dead manuever. I had no option in which to refuse this patch as I had with the way games were previously patched.



It's an interesting time but it leans more towards mixed blessings.

 

[Living Contradiction]

Folks, that sound you just heard is Sony farting in the room and saying, "Oh, did I do that?"

For 2010, Sony Corporation made $77.2 billion in revenue. At the end of 2010, they had $11.3 billion in cash on hand. (numbers courtesy of wikinvest.com)

This breach will hurt Sony, don't get me wrong, but it will not cripple. Folks will just have to hold their noses a little while and say, "Dude, really?"

It'll be interesting to see if a single person pulled this off and can be traced or if this was a long-term, group-based hack that was only now just discovered. Sony sat on the discovery for a week, so I imagine they spent a good deal of that time tracking activity and following leads with the FBI riding shotgun.

 

[-|-]

And, as I've said before and you chose to ignore, I clearly stated that I don't consider the hardware to be an issue(seeing as it's just a scaled down PC stuck into a plastic box).
Yes, and the lack of innovation is because of what? That's right, because Activision KNOWS that no matter what crap they put out, as long as they put Call of Duty in front of the name, console gamers will come flocking to buy it.(see: Apple)
The consoles themselves are fine, I actually liked the PS3 when it came out(OtherOS was fun), hell, I STILL like what I can do with it(running win95 right now). I just don't like the marketing philosophy behind it.
As to your big hardware=big graphics=big money, it IS pretty obvious. It works like THIS: "More expensive games+consumers who will buy anything you put out=no risk=no innovation"

And as to Killzone 3, I didn't buy it. I won't buy it. They DID hand it to me for free, and I spent about an hour laughing at it in 3D, and about an hour more vomiting afterwards.

As to 2011, yeah, it's not that bad actually, I've got Witcher 2 on pre-order(no DRM, would buy it even if it consisted entirely of staring at a black screen for 8 hours), Deus Ex 3 looks nice, guardedly optimistic about that, ME3, well, I sorta have to by now.

You want sony's gaming division to disappear because you don't like Activision? That's not exactly consistent.

The fact is that if consumers want to buy flashy graphics and get enjoyment from same then all power to them. Really I fail to see what your problem is - if you don't like something a company puts out then don't buy it. For instance I don't like apple products either, so I choose to do what a normal person would do and not purchase them. Wishing steve jobs dead is not a rational response to disliking iTat.

Really, if you think the gaming industry is going the wrong way. Do something about it; get a dev kit, write a game and sell it. The barriers to entry are quite low for a lot of platforms out there.

[I have Dues Ex on pre-order. Also DNF, LA Noire, Infamous 2. I'm currently playing (and enjoying a lot) crysis 2 and have portal 2 in the queue. Honestly I can't remember a time in years when it's been so good. Personally I think the industry is doing great right now, well I guess "was" until this particular fiasco started]

 

[quhouv vhqwiufv qwiu]

I'm glad I never had any credit card details linked to my PSN account. Is it possible to actually delete your account?

 

[MightyMole]

And, as I've said before and you chose to ignore, I clearly stated that I don't consider the hardware to be an issue(seeing as it's just a scaled down PC stuck into a plastic box).
Yes, and the lack of innovation is because of what? That's right, because Activision KNOWS that no matter what crap they put out, as long as they put Call of Duty in front of the name, console gamers will come flocking to buy it.(see: Apple)
The consoles themselves are fine, I actually liked the PS3 when it came out(OtherOS was fun), hell, I STILL like what I can do with it(running win95 right now). I just don't like the marketing philosophy behind it.
As to your big hardware=big graphics=big money, it IS pretty obvious. It works like THIS: "More expensive games+consumers who will buy anything you put out=no risk=no innovation"

And as to Killzone 3, I didn't buy it. I won't buy it. They DID hand it to me for free, and I spent about an hour laughing at it in 3D, and about an hour more vomiting afterwards.

As to 2011, yeah, it's not that bad actually, I've got Witcher 2 on pre-order(no DRM, would buy it even if it consisted entirely of staring at a black screen for 8 hours), Deus Ex 3 looks nice, guardedly optimistic about that, ME3, well, I sorta have to by now.

How to go about this...

Its the consumers fault that games like CoD are so popular. Sure you can blame the consoles for introducing these consumers to the market, but is that really all that bad? In the long run, a lot of these "casual gamers" will get into video games through crappy games like CoD and will eventually branch off from these games and try others, pumping more money into the market and thus allowing for a higher quality of games in the future.

If you really wanted to argue the whole Console vs. PC argument, the same can be said that WoW is causing games to become stagnate as it has millions of people paying to play a 10 year old game, and nothing really needs to be said about games like Farmville and all those "stay at home mom" games.

I will agree with you, Activision really does need to go out of business. I have to say, where I would feel bad if Sony's console division went bankrupt/ had layoffs or something, I honestly wouldn't bat an eye if Activision/Blizzard dropped off the face of the planet. They're a huge detriment to gaming.

 

[Ainsley Bartlett]

I think it's an exciting time to be into gaming...

There's good and bad. For example:

It's an interesting time but it leans more towards mixed blessings.

That's one way of looking at it, and while I agree with your view on digital distribution, I like to own things and have the artwork/instuctions/ability to play a game even though the internet isn't working, but I think Valve's attempt is slightly different in that it's about getting players together despite console/pc of prefernce rather than segregating players because of cost/choice decisions. Rather than selling someone a game for £40 and then turning around and saying that we can't play it anymore (I'm looking at you APB).

For me, this will only work if there are numerous platforms and servers for people to play on. (and bringing it back round to the subject post) This could be affected by PSN disappearing or Sony reducing the features on there. I may be wrong, with XBL not being involved in the Cross platform trial with Portal 2, but I get the impression that Microsoft aren't keen on the idea...

(sorry for shortening the posts, thought it would be easier...)

 

[Ainsley Bartlett]

I'm glad I never had any credit card details linked to my PSN account.

Me too, hang on a minute...

Is it possible to actually delete your account?

I was reading their website earlier and you can change an accounts email etc, but as I recall you can't delete a master account.

 

[Sabinfrost]

I didn't think of the little devs before I read this article, I really hope Sony shows them the support they deserve.

 

[antipunt]

I've never heard videogame news on NPR
...

until this morning.

 

[erztez]

Its the consumers fault that games like CoD are so popular. Sure you can blame the consoles for introducing these consumers to the market, but is that really all that bad? In the long run, a lot of these "casual gamers" will get into video games through crappy games like CoD and will eventually branch off from these games and try others, pumping more money into the market and thus allowing for a higher quality of games in the future.

If you really wanted to argue the whole Console vs. PC argument, the same can be said that WoW is causing games to become stagnate as it has millions of people paying to play a 10 year old game, and nothing really needs to be said about games like Farmville and all those "stay at home mom" games.

I will agree with you, Activision really does need to go out of business. I have to say, where I would feel bad if Sony's console division went bankrupt/ had layoffs or something, I honestly wouldn't bat an eye if Activision/Blizzard dropped off the face of the planet. They're a huge detriment to gaming.

It may shock some people around here, but I agree with pretty much everything you say.
Well, 'cept the part about Sony's console division, but for me, Sony's been irredeemable since the rootkit fiasco.

I especially agree about the social games/WoW part, WoW is the anchor keeping the MMO market from moving forward(coming from a guy who spent 5 years playing it

The truly sad part is, while I would LOVE for your average CoD player to eventually branch out into real games and join the community, not many of them do. Those that do, I welcome with open arms.
In the long run...we'll see, I hope you're right, I really do.

 

[erztez]

You want sony's gaming division to disappear because you don't like Activision? That's not exactly consistent.

The fact is that if consumers want to buy flashy graphics and get enjoyment from same then all power to them. Really I fail to see what your problem is - if you don't like something a company puts out then don't buy it. For instance I don't like apple products either, so I choose to do what a normal person would do and not purchase them. Wishing steve jobs dead is not a rational response to disliking iTat.

Really, if you think the gaming industry is going the wrong way. Do something about it; get a dev kit, write a game and sell it. The barriers to entry are quite low for a lot of platforms out there.

[I have Dues Ex on pre-order. Also DNF, LA Noire, Infamous 2. I'm currently playing (and enjoying a lot) crysis 2 and have portal 2 in the queue. Honestly I can't remember a time in years when it's been so good. Personally I think the industry is doing great right now, well I guess "was" until this particular fiasco started]

Nice way to pick the one seeming inconsistency and ignore the rest of the argument.
Yes, seeing ActiBlizz disappear is one of my fondest dreams, but since that isn't likely to happen, I'll take what I can get.

Also, I don't want Steve Jobs dead because I don't like his products, I'd like for him to go away because I don't like him and the horrendous cult he's built around himself. Nothing against Apple products, from a design viewpoint, most of them are at least passable, it's the marketing that's annoying the hell out of me: "Be unique! Join the 200 million people using the exact same stuff!!!"

And yes, I do think that the industry is heading the wrong way, and I actually AM trying to do something about it. I work in it(publishing side-don't hit me-not development, I utterly suck at writing code and couldn't draw a straight line if I was holding a ruler).
It's not much, but at least in my small way, I'm pushing my company to remember who's paying their bills.

 

[JET1971]

In my own little mind, I like to think that the people who did this, only did it to teach people a lesson about security. Maybe they stole all that stuff, and then deleted it so they don't have it anymore. Kind of like the people who called out the CEO of sprint about the privacy of their customer's information.

I was thinking the same thing last night. lets hope even though the only thing from Sony I own is a stereo that i bought 20 years ago.

 

[RelexCryo]

I generally like Sony. But far too many companies ask for far more information than they should. They need to be discouraged from doing this. They need to be discouraged hard. I am not sure that 24 billion dollars is the right amount- that seems a bit too hard. But still. Private Companies need to stop asking for any more information than they actually need.

 

[poiuppx]

You want sony's gaming division to disappear because you don't like Activision? That's not exactly consistent.

The fact is that if consumers want to buy flashy graphics and get enjoyment from same then all power to them. Really I fail to see what your problem is - if you don't like something a company puts out then don't buy it. For instance I don't like apple products either, so I choose to do what a normal person would do and not purchase them. Wishing steve jobs dead is not a rational response to disliking iTat.

Really, if you think the gaming industry is going the wrong way. Do something about it; get a dev kit, write a game and sell it. The barriers to entry are quite low for a lot of platforms out there.

[I have Dues Ex on pre-order. Also DNF, LA Noire, Infamous 2. I'm currently playing (and enjoying a lot) crysis 2 and have portal 2 in the queue. Honestly I can't remember a time in years when it's been so good. Personally I think the industry is doing great right now, well I guess "was" until this particular fiasco started]

Nice way to pick the one seeming inconsistency and ignore the rest of the argument.
Yes, seeing ActiBlizz disappear is one of my fondest dreams, but since that isn't likely to happen, I'll take what I can get.

Also, I don't want Steve Jobs dead because I don't like his products, I'd like for him to go away because I don't like him and the horrendous cult he's built around himself. Nothing against Apple products, from a design viewpoint, most of them are at least passable, it's the marketing that's annoying the hell out of me: "Be unique! Join the 200 million people using the exact same stuff!!!"

And yes, I do think that the industry is heading the wrong way, and I actually AM trying to do something about it. I work in it(publishing side-don't hit me-not development, I utterly suck at writing code and couldn't draw a straight line if I was holding a ruler).
It's not much, but at least in my small way, I'm pushing my company to remember who's paying their bills.

So, wait... been following your screed through this thread, and I'm puzzled. You don't like the current console generation or the companies behind them. You don't like successful third-party companies. You don't like Apple, whose mobile smartphones and tablet computers have created strong viable inroads for indie developers. And you're a part of the industry.

So... do you work purely on PC related games, or Wii titles? Either way, methinks your bias is showing, wishing death and/or vanishment upon everyone else. Believe it or not, this isn't a matter that is going to just affect Sony. You should be damned worried about your livelihood, which likely depended on a lot of casual gamers that will be scared away, some for keeps, after hearing about all this. THAT, if your tale about being in the industry has any worth at all, is what should be worrying you and inciting your rage right now. Consumer confidence has a halo effect, and a major hack like this is going to send it plummeting for the industry, not just for your hated enemy, the PS3.

 

[Mcupobob]

I'm all for compensation but I think this lawsuit is overkill. Sure Sony dropped the ball and they need to pay the price but I don't think its worth taking down a whole company just because people had to talk to their banks and change some cards around, I know its a pain in the ass but I don't bankrupting them is the way to go. 500 million maybe but thats still a big hit.

 

[JET1971]

Shit, this is a bad time to have a PS3. How much you want to bet Microsoft is absolutely ecstatic about this?

I wonder about that. I mean, if I were a multi-billion dollar organization competing with another multi-billion dollar organization and my competitor just had a massive security breach I might be having a nice long chat with the security people about making sure our systems are all nice and up to date...

Sony was warned that they were under threat from hackers just prior. infact they took down the PSN what a week before? that takedown gave the information needed to breach the PSN. someone in anon went rogue and thought they could get something out of it and used the data collected from the anon attack to get into the PSN and start collecting data. but it wasnt anon that did it, just a rogue member. wikileaks are full of rogue members in one way, then theres the always fun fired IT still has complete and total access to a network. simply put its not anons fault but purely SONY! they new hackers were attacking them. they were straight up told that they better protect everything. SONY completly screwed the pooch on this and MS was watching the whole time and had IT pouring over security when Sony was first told they are now a target. MS knows its always a target and when a threat comes to a competitor they know to start covering bases.

MS is ecstatic over this, you betcha!