14 DAY TRIAL // A United States Senator has pointed to the way that video game company Sony reacted to the recent security breach that has affected the PlayStation Network, saying that it could serve as a model for other companies that have similar situations in the near future.
Richard Blumenthal, who is a Senator from the Democratic Party and represents Connecticut, has stated, “While I continue to believe that Sony should have warned users earlier, I am pleased they are providing protective measures including an insurance policy to cover identity theft harms to consumers within a 12-month window - but I would hope Sony would extend coverage over a longer time on a case-by-case basis if necessary.”
The Senator believes that cyber crime is on the rise and that more big companies, especially those who handle the personal information of big amounts of customers, might be affected by attacks in the near future.
Soon after Sony announced that hackers had penetrated the PSN and managed to both take it offline and get their hands on sensitive personal data for a large number of users, the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade of the United States Congress has questioned the company about its reaction.
A number of politicians have praised the company for the detailed answers it has provided to the inquiries of the House.
The reaction was much more hostile when it came to the gamers who play on the PlayStation 3 and who were frequent users of the PSN, downloading games and other content from it or simply using it to set up multiplayer games.
The main problem is that Sony waited for quite a long time before admitting that personal information was accessed and that players might be at risk.
Sony now says that full service for the PlayStation Network will be restored by May 31 and that the service will be better protected in the future.