Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer has reached out to those suffering from the PSN security breach. In a letter which can be read in full over on the PlayStation Blog, Stringer insisted that the publisher is “dedicated to restoring full and safe service as soon as possible and rewarding [users] for [their] patience”. He reiterated that Sony will be offering a “Welcome Back” package and a $1 million insurance policy as apologies for the inconveniences that have stemmed from the unfortunate incident. “Welcome Back” includes a month of free PlayStation Plus, free download(s) and an extension of services to make up for lost time. As for the insurance policy, that will be part of a greater protection package offered to PSN and Qriocity users free of charge.
The Sony boss described the issue of why no one was told sooner about the illegal acquisition of user data as “a fair question.” Specifically, he said: “I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process.” Stringer went on to mention that because hackers are notorious for covering their tracks, it took days before the teams working on the problem could determine precisely what had been compromised. It was again confirmed that “there is no confirmed evidence any credit card or personal information has been misused” at this time.
As has become standard practice, he again mentioned that professionals are “working around the clock and around the world” and that the “investigation is ongoing”. Security is being beefed up to prevent future attacks and service is set to be restored in the near future. It was originally said that some PSN services would go back up starting this week. With the week almost over, that appears to be a long shot, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
[Source: Official PlayStation Blog]
[Image courtesy of CBS News.]
