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Sony's network outage, cyberattack mean long road to recovery

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has apologized for being hit with an outage and a cyberattack, but with an additional attack likely the company faces a long road ahead.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has apologized for being hit with an outage and a cyberattack, but with an additional attack likely the company faces a long road ahead.

Stringer said in a letter:

Let me assure you that the resources of this company have been focused on investigating the entire nature and impact of the cyber-attack we’ve all experienced and on fixing it. We are absolutely dedicated to restoring full and safe service as soon as possible and rewarding you for your patience. We will settle for nothing less.

To date, there is no confirmed evidence any credit card or personal information has been misused, and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We are also moving ahead with plans to help protect our customers from identity theft around the world. A program for U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers that includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user was launched earlier today and announcements for other regions will be coming soon.

And then Stringer apologized. Overall, it's a stand-up approach to the hack and outage. The problem is that another attack is highly likely, according to CNet News.

Overall, Sony can explain its Playstation Network and Qriocity shutdowns, its defenses and steps to prevent a future cyberattack. But time will tell if Sony's defenses are enough.

For Sony customers, it makes sense to stick with the company. However, Sony's problem will be future companies. For instance, I wasn't on the Playstation Network and this incident means that I'll be in no hurry to try it out anytime soon---if at all. Sony will face a major perception and reputation issue going forward.

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