Sony fined by UK government over the infamous 2011 security breach
1/27/13 11:40am
Just when Sony executives thought they had finally put the infamous PSN security breach of 2011 (which took down PSN for an entire month) behind them, they receive a fine from the UK government for its failure to prevent the incident from happening.
The £250,000 fine was issued by the Information Commissioner's Office, stating Sony’s poor security put about 77 million customers at risk of identity theft, thus violating what is called the Data Protection Act.
ICO (huh, those are some ironic initials) deputy commissioner and director of data protection, David Smith said that while ICO recognizes Sony’s database was the victim of a criminal attack, it believes Sony didn’t do enough to protect the personal information of PSN users.
"There's no disguising that this is a business that should have known better. It is a company that trades on its technical expertise, and there's no doubt in my mind that they had access to both the technical knowledge and the resources to keep this information safe.”
According to the BBC’s Steph McGovern, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe plans to appeal ICO’s ruling.
Sure Sony was the victim of hackers but the company also should have implemented stronger security long-before the attack even took place. So the company should just pay the fine and avoid any further negative press. Besides, £250,000 isn’t exactly that large of a fine in retrospect, as it is being filed against an entertainment industry giant after all.
» Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-24-uk-government-fines-sony-for-2011-playstation-hack
» Tagged In: #Hackers, #PSN, #Ryan Conway, #Sony, #uk
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g1 DISCUSSIONS
CrazyVideoGameDude
gove = crooks.
alondite345
Does Sony even have the money to pay the fine?
NemesisTrestkon
Of course they do. 250,000 quid isn't that big of a fine if you ask me. What I DO find odd is that WHY did the UK just file this complaint now? I know concerns like this take a long time, but isn't it a bit late for that? And it's not really Sony's fault that the hack happened in the first place.
SSBBrawler
ICO's got no case. Their basically saying that Sony sould have seen this coming in time. No one, and I mean no one, can predict a theft. Heck, one time, someone broke into our car and stole the removable DVD players we had in there... while the car was locked. Also, why wait till now? It's been more than a year since then, why not sue Sony then? Honestly, I think stupidity is becoming something of an epidemic, and that's coming from a guy who needs to have his common sense gland looked at.
Fiery_Elf
It doesn't matter how many fire extinguisher you put in one building, If the fire is big enough it'll burn down eventually. There's nothing to keep hackers from getting where they want to go if they put enough work into it.
Ryujinjakka
Sony used the THEN STANDART security measures....and after geting hacked (where NO ONE got f*cked over it..no one lost money and such...) it has to pay the gov...stupidity does flow beyong borders...see other contries try and do the same.
RiaraTan
This is 2013 right? Maybe if security was still being hacked in 2012 but this is something that should have happened a while ago...
Palmerama
Im guessing its the highest amount they could get and its a pathetic way of them getting extra money for the government to try & prove their 'austerity measures' weren't bollocks! Sorry for sounding political but its the only reason I could think! Fucking Tories! We need a new reasonable fourth party! though I know asking for something reasonablew in politics is like asking the ocean to stop being wet!
Shinx
And it's shit like this which makes me face palm and feel embarrassed to be English.
AgentKane
Given its 250K and that it is 2 years late, the UK government must be really slow.