PSN Credit Card outrage

I seem to be on this subject like white on rice, but as with an ever evolving issue; ever evolving opinions come with it. This blog focuses on the attitudes people have been having since Sony decided to caution people of the POSSIBILITY that credit card information was stolen.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Sony issued an official statement that they will be emailing certain individuals through PSN (and I'd hope standard email) that due to the external intrusion that PSN was subjected to; there is an unconfirmed possibility that some PSN accounts with credit card information were compromised, and that the actual credit card number and expiration date of the card could have been taken by the thief. However they did state that security numbers present on the back of your credit card were NOT taken.

The thing to remember here is that Sony ARE NOT 100% POSITIVE THAT SUCH A THING ACTUALLY HAPPENED, AND ARE SIMPLY BEING CAUTIOUS. They are following the "better to be safe than sorry" motto.

Since this happened, once again you have the ill-informed and the ill-tempered individuals choosing to blow this up to epic proportions and not using basic sense or logic. Here's some examples.

"WHAT?! MY CREDIT CARD INFORMATION WAS TAKEN? F*** YOU SONY, THIS SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED! YOU SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED OUR INFORMATION, THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

-Two things spring to mind when you see a comment like this, or any variant even if it is calmly worded. The first is the possibility that it is a troll just trying to fan the flames. The second is that this person isn't using sense. You don't blame a victim for being victimized in some way, you blame the person causing the harm. PSN was hacked. Plain and simple. Someone gained access to that which they were not allowed access to and tried to do illegal things with that access. You have to understand that in the world of information technology, nothing is 100% secure. Any hacker with enough patience, time, and talent will eventually find a way through any protected server or service if they really want to.

When you give your information that can identify you to any online service, they always inform you that doing so is a risk on your part and that you should be aware of that risk before handing out information such as this. The fact that this happened to Sony is not at all anything special, because people suffer credit and bank fraud daily across the globe. Hell, a few weeks ago I was "Skimmed" (as the bank calls it) for $230 that I didn't spend. Do I blame the bank because it happened? No, because these thieves know what they're doing. Using technology, they can read your bank cards number, and the pin number you push in, and then create a counterfeit bank card for use anywhere they want. It's not the banks fault that the thieves are able to fool interac machines into believing that their counterfeit card is your legitimate bank card. Sony can't be blamed for the actions of an outside intruder looking to steal information anymore than you can be blamed for someone busting your window and breaking into your house to steal your property.

"WHY DIDN'T SONY TELL US SOONER OR RIGHT AWAY?!"

-Another thing I've already spoken about is complete transparency. For starters, no company will ever be completely transparent about even the smallest security breach. It's bad PR and could cause shareholders to sell their stocks. Also, Sony hired a 3rd party security firm to analyze every detail of PSN to find out exactly what happened and what they needed to do to fix the problem. This meant that, until the firm finished analyzing the system, Sony had no information to give until the final and accurate report by the firm was made. How can Sony tell you that which they don't yet know? And even now, they can't confirm that CC information was stolen, they are merely being cautious and telling people to look out for the possibility. It's called being prudent and responsible. Sony doesn't want millions of people to suffer fraud or identity theft. Why do you think they would? You think any of this is fun for Sony? It's a nightmare for them and yet so many of you are acting like they've purposely tried to hurt their consumers.

They wanted to be able to be honest and upfront when they had accurate information to give you. And they were. The fact that they can't confirm CC information theft means they didn't have to say anything about it at all. They could have let it go and let you assume that someone got a hold of your information some other way, and let you deal with the bank and all the headaches without ever even suspecting that it's because PSN was hacked. They could have spared themselves a real PR headache by keeping quiet, but they didn't. They came forward and told everyone of the possibility of CC information theft so that people could take the necessary steps needed to protect themselves. And this is the victimized company you're ready to lynch?

"I'M NEVER BUYING A SONY PRODUCT EVER AGAIN, THEIR SECURITY IS SO LAX IT'S PRACTICALLY NON-EXISTENT."

-See ya then. No one is going to miss you. Those of us with a logical and clear head understand that this kind of thing is a VERY common occurrence and can happen to even the most tightly secured online servers and services. Visa and Mastercard were recently hacked by Anonymous, Paypal has been hacked before, hell the Pentagon faces thousands of hacking attempts every day by hackers more skilled at what they do than you'll ever know exist, and the only reason the Pentagon hasn't been blown wide open is the extraordinary security measures taken and the amount of personnel hired simply to monitor the network. This happens all the time no matter how much security is in place. All it takes is someone with enough time, skill, and patience to do it. So if you're really that closed minded and small to boycott Sony products for something that isn't Sony's fault, then by all means don't let the door hit you on the way out. The rest of us will be over here enjoying our gaming experience.

"SONY SHOULD HAVE NEVER GONE AFTER GEOHOT AND THE OTHER HACKERS, IT'S BECAUSE OF THAT THAT THIS HAPPENED AND THAT'S WHY IT'S SONY'S FAULT."

-Now you're trying to blame Sony for protecting their interests. This situation should show you that hackers are NOT on your side. They are NOT fighting for YOUR rights. They hack so they can do things like this. Granted, not all hackers are hacking for illegal reasons, but this should show you that OtherOS and homebrew and all the other nigh-dogmatic rhetoric that "the scene" was spewing forth in their crusade to allow hacks was all smoke and mirrors to avoid prosecution. The truth is, when you want everything to be open and free, you are allowing people to commit these kinds of crimes. Control has to be maintained, and if you truly want the ability to create your own applications for things like a console, then make a legal, and public request for such a thing, and gain the support of the people using a legal and public venue to do so. Sony at least are a company that listen to what their userbase wants in a large way, which is why OtherOS was originally part of the PS3 and why they went with Android for Xperia Play and NGP.

If Sony was so against open source applications and software, why would they open up their next portable gaming devices? It's all a matter of how you approach the subjects of these kinds of things.

And one thing that I have noticed is that these "pro-hacker" individuals who were trumpeting GeoHot's cause are suddenly very silent. Which is fine and refreshing, but makes you wonder if they NOW see why Sony fought so hard to block the hackers. Some have suggested that Sony should have taken Microsoft's approach and just ban the modders and hackers. Maybe they should have, or maybe they wanted to be proactive and try to protect things like PSN being hacked from happening in the first place. Maybe they were thinking of your ability to enjoy your online gaming experience, free of the worry of cheaters and spammers and CC information thieves.

No fortress is impenetrable. Like water, hackers will always find a crack to flow through. But remember that Sony shut down PSN to prevent anything worse than what has already happened from happening. They've been thinking of protecting your information from the start, and these things take a lot of effort and a lot of time. They couldn't give too much information, or else the guilty parties would further cover their tracks and they could have incited hysteria over what could have been a small issue.

People need to learn patience, and they need to exercise sense. And this issue really needs to stop being blown into ridiculous proportions by random no-name bloggers and media outlets who cease to use professionalism and objectivity.