Recently, MediaTemple and Amazon had some server problems that sent digital ripples across the world.
Now, Sony is having there own problems.
For over a week, now, Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) has been shut down. Not an hour. Not a day. A week!
Sony sent an email Wednesday night to all users of PSN and Qriocity, a movie and music streaming service, alerting them of an illegal breach in PlayStation’s user account information system that occurred between April 17 and 19.
Sony and Qriocity shut PSN services down on the the 20th because Sony believes their system was hacked, and names, addresses, countries, email addresses, birth dates, usernames, passwords, and online handles were accessed.
Although Sony says credit card and bank information was not obtained, they are still advising their 77 million PSN users to take precautions.
Sony has made a smart move, and hired an outside security firm to not only investigate the hack, but also institute a new information system with stronger security.
Meanwhile, despite Sony’s claims regarding leaked PSN user bank information, “low-level cybercriminals” are selling 2.2 million so-called PSN member credit card details. There have also been reports of users having unauthorized charges ranging from $1 (which is usually a test run that fraudsters do before charging larger amounts) and $2,000. Are these legitimate claims or did these credit card holders see an opportunity. Is Sony being completely truthful?
Either way, no matter how great your password is, the systems our information sits-on isn’t 100% safe. Then again, nothing is guaranteed, right?
A few months ago I received an email from both my banking institution and pharmaceutical company regarding a security breach. It wasn’t as serious as PSN, they claimed it was only email addresses. However, it was a stark reminder that two unrelated online accounts used the same vendor for severing their secure online financials. In my mind, my personal financials and information was being held in two distinctly different places. Not so.
Identity theft and cyber crime is rising, but so is cyber use. You can’t have all this data and all these services buzzing about and expect things to sail perfectly. I’ve seen some real hate towards Sony’s snafu, but someone that big has to be hacked-on, everyday. These are the realities of a world online.
Just because there are criminals in public, doesn’t mean I’ll just lock myself in my house. There are always risks and rewards with technology. It’s learning how to balance the two that’s key.
Speak your mind...