The fun stops for millions of Playstation owners

Millions of Playstation users have been affected by the intrusion of hackers into the online system. The news of problems at Sony were first reported several weeks ago, and two weeks on, concerns are still rife. The hackers have (potentially) access to the personal details of over 70 million user accounts and Sony are keen to ensure that Playstation 3 remains offline until all security threats are contained and understood.

Rumours include the suggestion that the 'hacktivist' group Anonymous is involved in the threat in a response to Sony's legal action against George Hotz, a hacker who successfully infiltrated Sony's PS3 security last year.

More cynical views imply that Sony has continued to keep its PS3 gaming and film purchasing offline to stop the opportunity to copy or pirate PS3 materials rather than respond to the security threat impacting existing customers. Either way, it is an unprecedented and lengthy response from the Japanese technology giant. As Sony continues to write to Congress and work with the FBI to respond, it will be interesting to see how the general public react. Have we become immune to concerns regarding cyber safety or does the development of new, sophisticated attacks raise our expectations as consumers? Should Sony have known and been better prepared?

The incident will undoubtedly have a number of technology companies scurrying back to the drawing board, double and triple checking security procedures. While the pace and potential of new digital entertainment, personal and business solutions is exciting, it should not be at the expense of personal safety. This latest episode is perhaps a timely reminder of just how much power we, the consumers give to technology giants. The fact that potentially 70 million user accounts have been exposed is a conservative estimate, with other reports indicating well over 100 million. The sheer numbers and volume of personal data is staggering. It is an eye opener that may find many of us choosing to become much more discerning in the future about the information we share online.

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