The letter talks about Sony's "welcome back" plans and the "aggressive action" being taken to secure customers' peace of mind. Nothing about how Sony might compensate the potential millions of dollars that companies have lost.
It doesn't really look good enough to be sent to a company that may have lost a ton of cash because it trusted Sony. You can check it out below. Methinks there'll be a fair few publishers who won't be satisfied.
Dear Partner:
As you know, certain PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment service user account information was compromised in criminal attacks against our networks. I want to assure you, as a PlayStation partner, that it is Sony’s top priority to restore our network operations and see that business is returned to usual as soon as possible. We are working around the clock to restore service, but will do so only when we can ensure that the network can operate safely and securely. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill.
What Happened?
• On Tuesday, April 19, 2011, Sony discovered that several PlayStation Network servers unexpectedly rebooted themselves and that unplanned and unusual activity was taking place on the network. This activity triggered an immediate response.
• Sony mobilized a larger internal team to assist the investigation of the four suspect servers. That team discovered the first credible indications that an intruder had been in the PlayStation Network system, and six more servers were identified as possibly being compromised. Sony immediately decided to shut down all of the PlayStation Network services in order to prevent any additional damage.
• The scope and complexity of the investigation grew substantially as additional evidence about the attack developed.
• The forensic teams were able to confirm that intruders had used very sophisticated and aggressive techniques to obtain unauthorized access, hide their presence from system administrators and escalate privileges inside the servers. Among other things, the intruders deleted log files in order to hide the extent of their work and activity within the network.
• On Sunday May 1, using information uncovered by the forensic teams, engineers at Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) discovered that data had also been taken from their servers. They, too, shut down operations and on Monday, May 2, announced the discovery.
What Data Are Affected?
As you may know, personal data was stolen from approximately 77 million PlayStation network and Qriocity service accounts.
As of this writing, there remains no evidence that the credit card information was stolen and the major credit card companies are still reporting that they have not seen an increase in fraudulent transactions due to this event.
What Steps Are Being Taken?
We have taken aggressive action to give consumers peace of mind, protect them against the abuse of their data, and enhance our security systems moving forward.
We have already advised our consumers in the U.S. that we will offer complimentary identity theft protection services through a leading provider, including an insurance program of up to $1 million. Similar programs are being developed in other markets around the world.
In addition, Sony is taking a series of steps to enhance security of our network infrastructure. They include but are not limited to:
• adding additional automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks;
• enhanced levels of data protection and encryption, as well as additional penetration and vulnerability testing;
• enhanced capabilities to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns;
• implementation of additional firewalls;
• expediting a planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location with enhanced security; and
• appointment of a new Chief Information Security Officer.
Finally, to thank our customers for their patience and loyalty, we are offering them “welcome back” packages as soon as the networks are restored, including free downloads of selected PlayStation entertainment, 30 days of free service as well as service extensions for the number of days PSN and Qriocity services were unavailable, with similar benefits for Music Unlimited subscribers.
Looking Ahead
We of course deeply regret that this incident has occurred. We are working closely with the FBI to identify and apprehend the culprits who committed this crime against our consumers, our partners and our company. I know you can appreciate how widespread the problem of cybercrime is in society today. Although no company is immune, we are confident our consumer data will be protected by some of the best security measures available today.
As a valued partner we aim to keep the lines of communication open so that you are aware of our progress. Our focus has been to confirm the security of the networks, protect customer data and get the services back on line as quickly as possible. We will do our best to respond to all of your inquiries and we will do everything we possibly can to support you.
We are doing everything we can to bring these services back online as soon as possible. We will update you with more information as soon as we can, but please call your account executive if you have further questions. We thank you for your patience and look forward to moving ahead together in the months and years to come.
Very truly yours,
Rob Dyer
SVP, Publisher Relations
Contest:
8:00 AM on 05.13.2011 | 
@mattrodroid
It's news. Would you like them to start reporting on how nice the weather is? Maybe you would prefer the weather channel.
The hold up,maybe?
We are working closely with the FBI to identify and apprehend the culprits who committed this crime
Or that^
"As a valued partner we aim to keep the lines of communication open so that you are aware of our progress. Our focus has been to confirm the security of the networks, protect customer data and get the services back on line as quickly as possible. We will do our best to respond to all of your inquiries and we will do everything we possibly can to support you"
Everything else was common knowledge that the developers probably knew before anyone else..
My guess is the Lawyers made Sony send it LOL
I know I'm not doing the kind of news you normally read but things like, "Bin Laden still alive, President Obama developing weapons based on stolen alien technology" can't be tied to videogames adequately.
Shit happens to developers and publishers just like it happens to any other business.
Plus, how much was really "Lost". Chances are if people wanted a particular game they would either buy it on another platform, get it on PS3 anyway to play offline in the interim, or wait until PSN was up...then buy it - as applicable. Not completely avoid the purchase.
On a serious note I do feel for the indie developers who are reliant on the revenue generated from the psn I hope those are the people who are properly compensated
On a serious note I do feel for the indie developers who are reliant on the revenue generated from the psn I hope those are the people who are properly compensated
Sony is doing everything in their power to fix this problem..
They security they had was up to date, and everything was encrypted.
I really don't know what you people expect from Sony, just put it back up and let it get hacked again?
That seems like it would just as important a line to pick out as any.
There is nothing in that "leaked" letter that hasn't already been sent to customers or the press. I am pretty sure the developers knew about everything it says there without the need of Sony to summarize it.
The bit at the end about keeping communication lines open is obviously the most critical bit to Sony's business partners. A form letter can't address everyone's issues, and Sony is going to have to treat each of it's partners concerns individually if it wants to keep doing business with them.
I don't see any stink about this.
Also you said 'leak' three times in one sentence. Were you jumping up and down while holding your crotch when you did that? I know I was.
Then Trettonanity will be formed. Entire countries will be looking for a revolution because these governments oppress them. The battles will wage over several millenia until finally, Trettonanity takes over the globe.
Then and only then will PSN come back up. Is this true? The answer may surprise you after the break.
I imagine that people like Spash Damage and many others aren't very pleased with this whole thing.
Also, Im quite surprised that Microsoft managed to stay classy and didn't say something like "we offer the best security folks!" or some BS like that. Give it time I guess.
More bullshit Sony trolling "news".
Get a new act, Jim, it's growing stale.
Jim more or less said what the Industry Gamers article said, he just emphasized how tactless the letter is. And it is pretty tactless.
Sony will "do everything they can" to help publishers and developers. Right. I'm totally sure they're going to pay them the money they've lost.
The only thing Sony has done right in all of this is arrange to hook up consumers with ID protection for a year in the wake of all this - and no one pays attention to that, not even the SDF. They just care when they can play Black Ops again and what free games they're getting. That's pretty sad if you ask me.
Sony has a lot to prove from here on out and no one should be tossing them an easy underhand pitch no matter how much they like them.
I'm sure they'll privately work out some form of compensation for anything promised in their licence agreement that they couldn't deliver over the last few weeks, but for everyone else the developers are free to walk away and write off the playstation platform as a source of income. They're not forced to develop for the console, it's simply another revenue stream for them where they pay a fee to release on the playstation.
Jim, I appreciate the fact that I can usually count on your articles for the latest news on this situation, I'm eager for PSN to come back too. But your PSN articles really come across less as journalism and more as an angry forum post from a self entitled gamer endlessly complaining because he can't have it now. It happened, deal with it, and report the news like an unbiased journalist should without the endless digs and snide comments that belong in a comments section.
Despite being informed by places like Destructoid and other similar sites about PSN's status, I attempt to sign on every day to make sure I can change my password as soon as possible. While I don't hold Sony completely responsible for this incident (though, I DO roll my eyes at them for instigating it), I'm definitely not comfortable with Sony leaving me and 77 million other people in the dark about our account status. At least let us change passwords or kill the account altogether...SOMETHING to give us all peace of mind.
I don't see how people can be so "yawn" about this situation. I believe that the people that don't care about the security breach either think they're safe using other networks like Steam or XBL, or their parents supply them their cards instead of their own. Think about this: now that hackers have taken down Sony's networks, what makes you think they aren't on an ego trip and they're now targeting Microsoft's or Valve's systems next? Absurd as it may sound, it CAN happen. They sure as hell caught us off guard with Sony's network. And for those kids out there that are letting other people pay for their stuff with their cards: imagine how much less they'll trust you should they be attacked directly. Imagine how long you'll be grounded. :)
Despite the situation involving a gaming network, this is hardly a game.
Because if you report something that makes Sony look bad that they DID THEMSELVES than you're troll. Never you mind how pathetic of a defense that is, but when you're vehemently defending force that blatantly dropped the ball while cutting corners to save a couple bucks, it highlights how much of an idiot you are. Sony, just like BP, and just like every other corporate Titan that's tried to squeeze by without doing their job 100%, fucked up, and has left a shit ton of other people to clean up their mess. Doesn't matter whether it's a gulf full of oil, a town covered in liquid ash and muck, or millions of users unable to use what belongs to them while their personal information is pilfered, and tons of publishers and developers getting shafted. You can play the "oh well if someone breaks into your home and rapes ----- is it their fault?" card, but it doesn't exonerate Sony from being the ones at fault, because even though they were hacked into, if they hadn't tried to fuck around to get by without having to put forth proper effort, this wouldn't have happened.
Stay classy fanboys.
I think Sony have a huge hill to climb now. With one of your previous reports Jim indicating many people are trading the PS3 for a 360 to play games like COD because of like of PSN at this time, truly is understandable. I was thinking going back to a Gold membership again, but I think I will wait this out a little more. I am very frustrated by it all. I understand all sides of the situation, but for a gamer this is a fuck of a long time to wait to play some games. And although you hated SOCOM 4, Jim, I loved it by the Beta alone, but this outage has stopped me buying that game.
It really fails to scare the fertilizer out of baby boomers, and so the media has not blown it out of proportion like they do everything else.
It is refreshing in a way, a silver lining in the diarrhea-stained walls of Sony's various PSN and SOE operations.
... in fact if they knew that PSN was going to be down for quite awhile, at the retail level they should have reduced the price on a bunch of single player games - made 20 titles available for %19.99 or something. This might encourage people to keep gaming on their PS3's through the down time.
People will bitch about anything.
This is most certainly news and it's news that affects you. I seriously can't believe so many people are this butthurt over this news. If it was about you and your compensation nobody would be batting an eye.
Fuck, I recognize the value of seeing how Sony is treating the people who are making their network worth something and I not only don't own a PS3 but hate PSN and I'm not a fan of the PS3 as a video game console either. But this news does have weight and while Sony might be doing all they can, I expect no one to really know what to do in a situation like this, one would think simply sending an email with either substance or at least managable length so as not to waste the time and patience of their third-party peers would be one of the easier things to do. I'm not even gonna comments on the timing.
This email does do one thing right: it let's third-parties know they are not forgotten. But this little incident I think requires more than a glance and a wave and when the time comes publishers are going to demand more. I mean why not? They know there's another platform with a (theoretically) wider audience where they can actually strike deals and get paid off to NOT support PSN.
And again, regardless of who you want to blame this is all happening on Sony's lawn. So if think Sony is so innocent that's fine but at the end of the day they are responsible for what happens in their yard and how they handle it.
I can't tell if that's brilliant comedy or gross ignorance.
That being said, Capcom needs to kindly shut their fucking traps in all of this as the PS3 game update servers are still up and running so at any time Capcom could release patches to remove the ridiculous always-online DRM they've incorporated into their releases. Capcom hasn't done that so their bitching rings extremely hollow.
As was mentioned in the letter, each developer has an account manager. I'm just curious, how do you know that the developers and account managers haven't been in contact about this weeks ago? You seem very sure of that.
Yet, when I was in business, we'd always hear about big news from our company rep first, and then the company would send out a standard form letter to cover themselves legally after that, and to provide a second layer of information. That is an almost universal method of operation in business. You're saying that isn't the case here. Why, exactly?
Please let me know.
Because if you don't have any evidence of that, then you'll come across as kind of ignorant, or that you're purposefully making things look as sensational as possible.
well said
Are you kidding me? Have you been keeping up with the news? Or did you just stumble across the fact that sony jeopardized 101 million people? Yes that's psn + soe accounts, and you get on here and say their security was up to date and everything was encrypted? Have you been drinking sony branded kool-aid? Their web server software was up-to-date, their security was very much not in check so much so that weren't following best practices at all which is the reason why this transpired in the first place.
Everything was encrypted? Ignorance is no excuse, if you don't follow the news don't get on here and talk non-sense because you're a fan of sony. NOTHING was encrypted apart from credit cards and even those have been compromised. Let me write the number here again... 101 million that is how many peoples identities and lively hoods now have the potential to be ruined because sony is irresponsible. You should be concerned because mommy's information was one of the ones stolen.