Stringer: Hirai Brought PSN Back "Faster Than Anyone Could"
See Full ImageThe PlayStation Network has returned along with a robust welcome back program, and according to a recent poll, the majority of Sony fans plan to remain faithful.
But despite the PSN's resurrection and Sony boss Kaz Hirai's state-of-the-union-like speech, there are bound to be some bitter consumers out there. So how many actually abandoned Sony after this ordeal? Well, according to what Hirai told the Wall Street Journal, only a "very small percentage" of users have canceled their Network accounts. At the same time, he clarified that it's still too early to draw any conclusions based on such early results.
Hirai went further to talk about the PSN's improved security, saying his company has "done everything possible and reasonable to make sure [the] system is secure from attack." As for how Hirai handled the situation, CEO Sir Howard Stringer had this to say:
"If anything happened in this period that was positive, Kaz demonstrated coolness and leadership and reliability absent of disagreement and dissidence that was very impressive."
As for how much time it took, Stringer said Hirai brought the PSN back "faster than anyone else could." And as always, we have the warning that no system is 100% secure but that's a lesson all adults of the world should already know.
Tags: psn, psn outage, playstation network, sony
5/17/2011 8:40:33 PM Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (51 posts)
Highlander
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 10:17:25 PM
6 up, 0 down
Qubex
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 10:45:11 PM
One can't diminish a security breach though, especially if it amounted to huge amounts of fraud. Interestingly enough, this whole story seemed to have gotten the Obama administration on their feet, with a release of a cyber-spastic white paper, about how to protect the realms of cyberspace in the future and how governments and countries internationally should sign up to some sort of security standard across the board.
This will get the internet greens all riled up... the whole "internet freedom" stance will come to ahead... wouldn't be surprised if there are some peaceful protests about it eventually...
Nonetheless, let's not lose the focus... it is all about protecting the consumer and saving the corporations... either way it will be a tug-o-war between the "freedom fighters" and the "law makers"...
I have a pretty good guess who will win this battle, do you?
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
2 up, 0 down
totozero18
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 11:26:52 PM
We moved on from splitscreen multiplayer, to some online servers for certain videogames, to everything that PSN entails.
I tend to think this will only get better, security measurements included...
4 up, 0 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 2:50:46 AM
No one will win because there will be an ever increasing arms race between hackers and the hacked. I do anticipate that things will become better though. Systems will become more difficult to attack, and the legal system will more closely focus on cyber-crime. New encryption products based on individualized encryption specific to each consumer will further complicate hacking efforts. In the end I think there will be something of a stand off. With a slight edge going to the hackers. That said, it will be safer for consumers - I think.
3 up, 0 down
kraygen
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 9:56:59 PM
Reply
I may not know all the ins and outs of programming such a massive network, but I know that the more complicated a structure is, the more complicated it is to fix.
8 up, 0 down
Highlander
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 10:24:16 PM
Reply
I think that in the short term this attack will be an issue, but long term it won't be. Although many US based tech and gaming sites will hold onto it like a treasure and will trot it out anytime they feel like being negative about the PlayStation brand or Sony.
4 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 3:15:10 AM
I'm pretty sure more the board will conclude that "it's better to be prepared than repaired".
0 up, 1 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 9:55:52 AM
1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 11:14:26 PM
Reply
The hackers caused us all 3 weeks of pain, not Sony.
Bottom line is, if the hackers hadn't hit Sony, it wouldn't have happened.
And.....if any of these a$$hat's are caught, every gamer who lives near their trials owes it to Sony & the whole wide gaming world to flood those courtrooms & demand the highest prison sentences & fines ever given out.
If any are found in my area, I'll be there staring them down in court, quick, fast & in a motherflocking hurry.
6 up, 0 down
RadioHeader
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 4:46:30 AM
4 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 3:13:01 PM
Thanks!
My new avatar is in honor of me now dating my late Phat Princess's much younger sister(don't worry, she's legal).
She's a really looker too, a sweet slim 320, all wrapped in black satin(finish)& came over all bundled in a "Move" Sports championship oh-la-la package.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/18/2011 3:13:56 PM
1 up, 0 down
RadioHeader
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 4:09:51 PM
1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 5:07:36 PM
As it happens, my launch baby died last night. We're still mourning her loss. I tried through the night to revive her, but even though the disc was willing, the motherboard was not. Rather than send her away, only to receive a facsimile in replacement, we have decided to keep our loved one in a place of honor.
We're now in the market to replace her with one of those lighter, cooler girls with the slim figure and smooth satin exterior.
If the wonderful people at Sony could actually return the same system to me, repaired, I would send my dearly departed system to them for their TLC, but since thy can't, she will remain home.
1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 7:31:02 PM
Well, I just fed her "The Breakfast of(Sports) Champions this morning, & she's actually slimmed down a much more sensual, playful, weight.
Nothing's too good for my new honey(barring that crude foulmouthed "Rouge Warrior", of course).
Oh wait, she's beckoning me to come pleasure that hot on button of hers........
See ya, I'm gone!
1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 7:49:07 PM
Have you checked out Gophermods?
They do the blinking red light for $69.99 & the YLOD for $139.00, and they don't delete anything on your HD.
That's the place my 60 Phat Princess was in transit to be repaired, until the USPS Gorilla Division smashed it beyond repair before they could repair it.
FYI, now, I can't vouch for their repairs obviously, but they still went ahead with the original repair just to see if they could've salvaged my baby, but to no avail, the motherboard's A/V was ruined.
But I will say this much for them, they didn't charge me for their repair work at all, except for $12 to Fed-Ex it back to me.
Plus they were great with all their communications with me during, and after my PS3 was already back in my hands. And you can get added warranty too, & they do other gaming console & phones too.
If you decide to send it out through them(like I should have done in the 1st place), you can get the Fed-Ex shipping label right from them.
Anyway, here's their website if you'd like to check them out at least....
http://www.gophermods.com/
Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/18/2011 7:51:42 PM
1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 8:24:15 PM
I forgot to mention(& too late to edit), that you also get "your very own same PS3 right back", that you send them.
Plus they have quick 24 to 48 hour turn-around time & they keep you posted throughout.
1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, May 19, 2011 @ 12:06:17 AM
2 up, 0 down
totozero18
Thursday, May 19, 2011 @ 8:35:51 PM
Hang in there man!
0 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, May 19, 2011 @ 11:25:04 PM
0 up, 0 down
shadowpal2
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 11:48:28 PM
Reply
I WANT THEM DEAD SCARED DURING THE DEPOSITIONING. DEAD F***ING SCARED.
4 up, 0 down
sinister nero
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 11:53:47 PM
Reply
7 up, 2 down
RadioHeader
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 4:48:39 AM
ftw
3 up, 0 down
maxpontiac
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 9:06:42 AM
5 up, 4 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 2:56:51 PM
AMEN TO THAT!
"No 4 more years"!!!
1 up, 1 down
pillz81
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 4:12:10 PM
AND the one before.
5 up, 0 down
Naztycuts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 12:33:55 AM
Reply
4 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 2:42:51 AM
Reply
as for how poorly sony was treated by overall tech and gaming media...i don't know. they did seem to get caught with their pants down. the general opinion many have is that sony did not have very good security and was a little slow to respond. i actually feel that way as well, but i'm ready to move past this.
i agree with qubex that most things can be healed over time. the only thing that worries me is that it's so hard to change negative impressions of companies once they have been made. sony needs to be vigilant, and watch the network closely. another outage would test the loyalty of even the most hardcore sony fan.
long live sony and psn. thrilled the network is back.
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 5/18/2011 2:54:32 AM
2 up, 5 down
Beamboom
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 3:09:09 AM
Reply
What would be interesting to read is the external security experts' verdict. Something we never will see, of course.
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/18/2011 3:10:00 AM
1 up, 4 down
Excelsior1
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 7:39:11 AM
one thing i've noticed is player counts on kz3 are down and i've lost contact with 7 of my friends. 4 of them were fellow kz3 clan members. where'd they all go? i'm hoping it's either they don't know psn is up or maybe they are having trouble with password resets.
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 5/18/2011 7:41:06 AM
1 up, 4 down
maxpontiac
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 9:15:24 AM
It's due to the fact the US Government has a big target on their back, and the same applies to Sony.
If people leave the PSN because of what happened, they better move themselves out in the middle of nowhere and live off the grid.
1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:21:11 AM
The silence you attribute to Sony is called having to wait to determine what has happened and what has been compromised. Go do some research please, before you continue in the ritual sacrifice of the scaped goat.
When a large network or system is attacked, it takes days, if not weeks to determine what happened and what was accessed/stolen and how it was done. It's usual for an organization to report such an attack months after the intrusion, not days after. The reason being that it takes time to gather all the forensic evidence from the systems and analyze it.
Sony came out within 48 hours of the network being taken down and said that they had been attacked. 4 days later they had enough information to make a meaningful statement to customers about the attack. Sony engaged multiple third parties and law enforcement to investigate this attack. Even if they contacted those organizations on the 20th, it would have been the 21st/22nd before their people were on the ground gathering evidence from the systems, and several days before preliminary findings were available.
I really do not understand what is so bloody hard to understand here. Sony cannot give you information that the do not have. For them to make any definite statement about the nature of the attack before the preliminary findings of the forensic investigation were available to them would have been grossly irresponsible - to say the least. You think that silence was uncomfortable for customers? Put yourself in Sony's shoes.
Sony announced to the world on the 22nd of April that they took PSN down because of an external intrusion. The Internet rumor mill was already moving at warp speed, anything Sony said would be twisted and held against them in the court of Internet Law, so they had to be sure of what they were saying. That is why they waited for the analysis. Doing anything else would truly have been irresponsible.
</rant>
Last edited by Highlander on 5/18/2011 10:22:22 AM
4 up, 0 down
pillz81
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 4:17:41 PM
Last edited by pillz81 on 5/18/2011 4:19:11 PM
1 up, 0 down
___________
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 3:43:49 AM
Reply
2 up, 9 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:45:15 AM
5 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 3:27:36 PM
Wrong!
As a gamer & also a avid gaming collector, I own 35 consoles & hand-helds & and 2102 games(so far), and I play them all.
Each one has it's own unique plus & minus's, but every single one of them has some enjoyable games or exclusives.
If you are truly a gamer, you'll play whatever game on whatever system.
Now with that said, my systems of choice are my Playstation 3, My PS2, My PSP's, my Dreamcast, my Panasonic 3DO, and.....my Intellivision.
(And I'm still waiting to re-buy another old Colecovision that I had way back when)
2 up, 1 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 3:47:53 PM
3 up, 0 down
pillz81
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 4:32:02 PM
Dude. Not cool.
0 up, 2 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 8:19:28 PM
OK.........Wait, WHAT??????
How can you be a true gamer if you're always limiting yourself to just a few games, plus only on 1 console too???
I'm 58 & have been gaming from the beginning, so maybe you can't relate to where I'm coming from, but I'll try.
While it's certainly your choice if you only want to game on one system, that just means that you've just limited yourself to a few games, in a whole vast universe of games out there.
IMO, if you are a true gamer, you "WILL" play games because they are there to play, not just because you're limiting yourself to only 1 console.
Now don't get me wrong, IMO there's NO better console than the PS3, & I hate much about my 250 GB COD-MW2 skinned Elite Deluxe 360......
"BUT".....there ARE exclusive games to that system(no matter how few), that you'll never get to play, & just because of linear thinking.
Any the very same thing goes with every other system's games down the line, from the GC, to the Saturn, to the Atari Jaguar, to the 2600, to the Commodore, to the Tandy & Texas Instruments computers, and even to the old Vetrex & Telstar Alpha, etc, etc.
"I game on anything & everything"
Last edited by BikerSaint on 5/18/2011 8:29:37 PM
2 up, 0 down
SoulController
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 7:38:58 AM
Reply
Rant done. Lol
2 up, 0 down
LegendaryWolfeh
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:19:15 AM
Reply
1 up, 1 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:42:49 AM
I haven't used the password rest website myself, so I can't confirm exactly how it operates. However if it operates in the same way as every other password reset does, an attacker would have to have access to the registered email account as well as the DOB information to force the reset, and receive the one-time use password. However, if the system doesn't operate in that manner, or the attackers have access to the email addresses, it's possible that the exploit could yield victims.
Either way, better safe than sorry I guess.
However, let's not jump on the PSN has been hacked theme again, it hasn't. Sony will have to come up with some other way to perform password resets for nonPS3 users now. I'm guessing their call center is about the get very busy...
2 up, 1 down
The Doom
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:48:32 AM
1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:55:43 AM
Interstingly, MS is going to replace a % of Xbox360s for free because a new firmware update (mandatory) is incompatible with them. Apparently systems made in 2005/2006 (however many are still kicking that is) are affected. Do I detect even more inflated shipped numbers to come?
5 up, 1 down
Fane1024
Friday, May 20, 2011 @ 2:43:18 AM
0 up, 0 down
Douchebaguette
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 10:52:25 AM
Reply
As always =].
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right, gonna go abit off topic now. This may not be related to the article but after going on it for the first time since 2009 [free downloads: decided to check it out after the previous incident] I have to mention this:
I really don't understand why they didn't decide to make PS Home the mandatory interface for PSN. It's absolutely shocking how better it is.
Began by me noticing how fast the download was compared to last time, and how smoother the design looked. Then the shortcut interface [Navigator] popped up. I was instantly intrigued to not only find how the layout is similiar to the much laggier XMB, but also how colourful and perfectly balanced it was. Thoughts appeared in my mind as to how awesome it could of been if this was PSN. This is what I was actually expeting before it even released.
After shuffling through the warbrobe, I spawned within the apartment before eyehumping the outside view, went out into the open square [which again has a much faster download time than before] and forced my friend to redownload Home. I then proceeded to invite him into the same server, to be surprised at how damn fine and clean the shortcut pad interface was. The friends list was a single friends list, not some mesh up with a spinning cinder of circles with no feeling of user-friendliness. Every feature, for instance in 'personal' was branched and tabbed into specific and tidy elements. This goes on with that sleek list, from creating groups to clubs, game launching, download queues to settings for editing the smallest feature. I seriously bet private chat would be achievable with Home.
^So the paragraph above was for those who like the quick and simple layout so they can get on with the playing of the games. But if there are those that demand an experience off of the console's affection alone, then Home is beyond enough to keep everyone satisfied, especially with the current amount of free downloads. There's endless confetti and so many different forms of entertainment. My friend didn't know what he downloaded and ended up going through a bizzare tour of entering games in and out. Users dress in funny costumes, there are ultramodern structure concepts and there's always a game of pool or chess to play.
All of this - The store could of been the actual PS Store, the cinema could of been the Video department, the TV and console within your apartment could of been the portal to playing the current inserted disc [funnily enough you can actually enter titles straight from Home interface anyway], PSN avatars would of existed, and the network would of been more social than ever. I know I'm nitpicking, but there so many things in Home that could easily be melded and tweaked with PSN to make something that would of thwarted XBL. Especially for free.
/rant
1 up, 0 down
Fane1024
Friday, May 20, 2011 @ 2:47:14 AM
I can't say I want Home to replace the XMB, though.
I would like to see each game disc create a temporary icon on the XMB to launch directly into that game's Home space.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 5/20/2011 2:50:15 AM
1 up, 0 down
Ultimateps3king
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 11:11:22 AM
Reply
0 up, 2 down
Highlander
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 @ 11:38:19 AM
4 up, 0 down
Qubex
Reply
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 @ 9:49:36 PM
Interestingly, whilst Sony was heavily critised, they did do their level best under the circumstances. I can only imagine the pressure of those working around the clock to get the system back up and running. I wouldn't be surprised if they had "shift" like work hours, with one team coming in, and the next team following on and taking over from the first team. I would not have liked to being present under that pressure.
The Welcome Back programme will go some way to appease the masses I would think; ultimately though, the incident will stick in peoples minds to some extent. The addage though that the passing of time heals everything may well prove true, in that people, once satisfied that they are back online and playing to their hearts content, will forgive and forget. Some won't, but the majority will.
Weather the network security breach, subsequent downtime and overall handling of the situation by Sony will effect peoples purchasing decisions when it comes to the PS4; we will have to wait and see... and weather or not there has been true long term damage to Sony's reputation and business...
Personally, i feel long term damage will not be such an issue, I think the forgive and forget addage will be stronger in this case... why? Because people love their gaming, and in the end it is about the games and nothing else... and PsxExtreme of course :)
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
Last edited by Qubex on 5/17/2011 9:51:56 PM