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14 May 2011 11:00

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Tech: What Sony should learn from this PlayStation Network mess

  • In the future, a blowback in the realm of cybersecurity might be known as the Sony Effect.
  • Bloomberg’s Michael Riley and Ashlee Vance • In a piece called “The Company that Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” Oh God, let’s hope it’s called “The Sony Effect,” because maybe it’ll remind other companies why not to actively antagonize their hacking-focused users. In Sony’s case, they were a combination of litigious (going after two well-known hobbyist hackers and threatening many others) and incompetent (they apparently ignore security researchers who find flaws and left their network wide open to an attack). The end result is that a company that needed to learn a lesson about getting hackers on their side learned a very expensive one — one that’s shut down their PlayStation Network for nearly a month now. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2011 19:56

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Tech: Sony’s PlayStation Network still down, will remain down for a bit

  • 04/20 The date that Sony’s popular PlayStation Network went down after a reported data breach — one which the company was initially mum about.
  • 05/08 The date it was supposed to go back up — over a week after the company revealed that users’ financial data was likely stolen.
  • ????? The date it’ll actually go up; the company promises it’ll be by the end of May, but we see how they are about keeping dates. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2011 00:46

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Tech: Sony gaming site hacked: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before

  • 24.5M number of Sony Online Entertainment users possibly affected by ANOTHER hack job
  • 20k number of credit card numbers that could’ve been exposed to evil hackers
  • off the status of the network, which means that Sony has TWO online gaming networks offline source
  • » Somebody has a security problem: While Sony Online Entertainment isn’t the juggernaut that the PlayStation Network is (and Sony says the financial data they possibly stole was old), it nonetheless makes the company look incredibly bad. This hack, by the way, happened roughly two weeks ago, around the same time as the PSN hack. Who wants to bet that they got hacked because of the way they handled the Geohot mess? Raise your hand. (via @The_CopyEditor)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 May 2011 16:04

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Biz: PlayStation Network breach could cost credit card firms millions

  • $1.5B the amount the PlayStation Network data breach could cost Sony, according to analysts
  • $300M the amount Sony’s data breach could cost credit card firms if consumers replace their cards
  • $3-$5 the amount it would cost card companies to replace a card affected by the breach source
  • » A big number, but small potatoes: The credit card industry makes a lot of money each year, and a $300 million charge, while not insignificant, is a drop in the bucket. In 2010, banks that distributed Visa and MasterCard cards — excluding American Express and Discover — made $2.12 billion in after-tax profit. So even if the potential cost is high, they could handle it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Apr 2011 01:24

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Tech: Security experts: Hackers tried to sell credit card database to Sony

  • 2.2 million the number of stolen credit card numbers security researchers say the PlayStation Network hackers made off with — based on conversations in underground forums
  • $100,000 the amount they’re looking to make off their bounty — which they even attempted to SELL BACK to Sony, though they reportedly ignored this naked attempt at ransom source
  • » Sony denies the claim: “To my knowledge there is no truth to the report that Sony was offered an opportunity to purchase the list,” said top Sony communications guy Patrick Seybold. Consultants for Trend Micro and iSEC Partners, along with other researchers who keep a close eye on these forums, suggest otherwise. So, who’s right? Hopefully it’s Sony.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2011 14:46

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Tech: Sony in hotter water as stolen debits begin to surface

  • breach In a much publicized incident, hackers crippled the Playstation Network and made off with personal info for 77 million gamers; Sony admitted credit card numbers may have been stolen, but said they saw no certain evidence of it.
  • swipe The reports are beginning to flow in about fraudulent charges being racked up; two users have claimed fraudulent debits of a few hundred dollars (that they’re using debit card numbers to draw directly from accounts is significant). source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Apr 2011 22:00

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Tech: Sony’s bad news: The data breach that killed PlayStation’s cred

  • 75M number of users Sony’s PlayStation Network has; until now, they were just upset they couldn’t play
  • six number of days it took Sony to reveal that users’ data was likely ganked by a hacker
  • one number of weeks Sony expects the network to partially get back up to speed source
  • » Sen. Richard Blumenthal has your back, gamers: The Connecticut senator and former state attorney general wants Sony to eat the cost of protecting users’ identities. “PlayStation Network users should be provided with financial data security services,” he wrote in a letter, “including free access to credit reporting services, for two years, the costs of which should be borne by Sony.” Bro also wants Sony to get insurance to protect users from identity theft. To put it simply — Sony’s kind of screwed, guys.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Jan 2011 11:15

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Tech: Sony wants court to prevent PS3 system master key’s spread

  • The lack of injunctive relief will … result in the loss of goodwill to licensees, encourage infringers to increase operations, and discourage anti-piracy enforcement which is great and irreparable harm.
  • A court document from Sony’s lawyers • Asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the spread of the Playstation 3 master key, which was released online earlier this month by Geohot (George Hotz), who originally jailbroke the iPhone, and the FAIL0VERFLOW group. It’s good to note that the PS3 was originally released with an Other OS feature, which (awesomely) allowed people to run Linux on their consoles. However, it was eventually turned off by Sony for security reasons, leading to the current chain of events. Streisand effect, anyone? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Oct 2010 23:18

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Music, Tech: By catering to majors, eMusic loses a simple, effective model

  • simple eMusic starts out with a basic, credits-based model which allows you to download tons of indie music each month.
  • busy To win over Sony and Warner Bros., they slightly modify the model to make full albums worth a little more.
  • complex To win over Universal, eMusic will charge a variety of different prices for different songs. This is a bad idea. source
  • » And credits are going away, too: To win Universal over, they’re going to have to charge 89 cents per track for some of their songs. While this is cheaper than iTunes, it’s also nearly twice as much as many of their other tracks. We don’t know what eMusic’s profitability is like, but this, to us, feels like it’s going to backfire. The changes are a little too extreme, and it no longer feels like they’re the cheap alternative. Can we lament the loss of eMusic (circa 2007) yet?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Apr 2010 11:12

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Tech: Sony finally putting the floppy disk out of its misery

A sad, depressing, but ultimately necessary move. The floppy disk will, in some minds, always be like the vinyl record. Except square. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
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