20 May

The troubles for Sony’s Playstation Network seem never-ending. After successfully relaunching its basic framework after two separate data hacks, it was discovered that a user could reset any other gamer’s password with just the email and date of birth associated with the account, causing Sony to strike the online reset service. Sony later updated that the page was not taken down due to another attack, keeping the website down but retaining the password reset process on the PS3s themselves.

Adding on his open letter released earlier on the subject, Sony CEO Howard Stringer recently reiterated his defenses of Sony’s week long wait period before notifying users on potential data loss. Speaking in his first public press meeting (via Reuters), Stringer commented, “This was an unprecedented situation…Most of these breaches go unreported by companies. Forty-three percent (of companies) notify victims within a month. We reported in a week. You’re telling me my week wasn’t fast enough?”

“There’s a charge for the system being down … a charge for identity theft insurance,” Stringer added. “The charges mount up, but they don’t add up to a number we can quantify just yet.”

Despite a multitude of gamers still sore about the hack and the subsequent fallout, Sony is reporting a relatively small number of account cancellations. While no exact figures have been given, studio head Kazuo Hirai told The Wall Street Journal (via CVG) that only “a very small percentage” of accounts have been cancelled in the wake of the breach. Many industry analysts have countered that the true amount of cancellations can be tabulated only after the service has been fully relaunched.

“We have done everything possible and reasonable to make sure that a system is secure from attack,” Hirai reaffirmed.