Sony execs apologize for network security breach (loss of personal data of some 77 million accounts)

Source: AP

By YURI KAGEYAMA

TOKYO (AP) - Sony executives bowed in apology Sunday for a security breach in the company's PlayStation Network that caused the loss of personal data of some 77 million accounts on the online service, and promised free help to customers.

"We deeply apologize for the inconvenience we have caused," said Kazuo Hirai, chief of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation video game unit, who was among the three executives who bowed for several seconds at the company's Tokyo headquarters in the traditional style of a Japanese apology.

Hirai said parts of the service would be back this week and that the company would beef up security measures.

He said the FBI and other authorities had been contacted to start an investigation into what the company called "a criminal cyber attack" on Sony's data center in San Diego, California.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110501/D9MUG8OG0.html

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In this Jan. 13, 2009 file photo, people walk outside Sony Corp.'s headquarters in Tokyo. Sony said Tuesday, April 26, 2011 that the credit card data of PlayStation users around the world may have been stolen in a hack that forced it to shut down its PlayStation Network for the past week, disconnecting 77 million user accounts.(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye, File)

but I guess there's an online version, where you have to pay for gaming with others on the Internet? Why would anyone do that? Isn't playing for free on the PS enough, esp after paying, what, a couple hundred dollars for the gadget? Who has this kind of money to throw around for games? Rich people?

Maybe I'm wrong.. I got my PS3 for the cheap Blu-Ray at the time. lol

But really, in some ways playing online games is better on the budget for gamers, because you get more playing time out of a single game. When games cost $50-$60 and you play through them in a couple days and there's nothing left, it's more disappointing than having an online feature that you could continue to enjoy that game for months instead of having to buy another one.

To play online with other gamers is free, you don't need to buy anything except the game to play online. Playstation network also allows people to buy and download games, add-ons, and movie through an online store.