As you have probably heard, Sony has revealed that their customer databases have been hacked twice in the past month, potentially affecting users of their PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment products. Not only have legions of gamers been dealing with a blackout of services that they pay for and fear that their credit card information may have been stolen – but Sony failed to inform them of this massive cyber attack for a week.
According to news reports, Sony learned that they had been hacked on April 19th, took down PlayStation Network service on the 20th, and told customers seven days later, on the 27th. Sony maintains that they were unaware of the breadth of the attack until much later, but I’m not sure that is a good reason for their failure to inform customers more quickly.
Sony gamers, internet security experts, and the odd politician are angry that Sony waited so long. From a PR perspective, the outlook is equally troubling. Sony had an opportunity to take control of the situation and keep this group of highly engaged customers as happy as possible considering the circumstances. Instead, they have turned a challenging situation into a major image problem.
However, I do think some of the lambasting from the press is unwarranted. Sony could have provided more information up front, but they have made great use of the PlayStation blog to consistently communicate with their customers, including lengthy customer Q&As. Of course, the content of that communication could have been better early on.
What do you think? Could Sony have communicated better about this security breach?
Hits and Misses 
So now I read Sony are trying to suggest that somehow the invincible uberhackers calling themselves Anonymous are involved in hacking the Playstation and gaining access to all those credit card details. I think that’s bull. From the little I know, Anonymous are ethical hackers, not thieves. Sony’s security wasn’t up to the job, that’s all there is to it. They’re trying to make it look like since Anonymous were involved, no encryption on Earth would have been secure, that Anonymous are invincible and so Sony exercised due diligence in setting up their encryption. That won’t wash, Sony. We see through you!
I cannot believe that Sony has taken this long to fix the hack. It is a shame that I still cannot log in to the PSN!