14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation Network has been attacked and the unknown assailants have managed to penetrate the security of the service and have obtained access to the personal details, ranging from identity to credit card information, of a huge number of users.
Sony is working frantically to identify the perpetrators and to make its network more secure while burned users are talking about class action suits and boycotts.
The company failed not only on the security front but also when it comes to communicating with users about the attacks and about what they need to do in order to make sure that they are not vulnerable in the long term.
What comes next for users, for Sony and PSN and for the trust that all the big gaming companies need in order to continue to make money and survive?
It’s not a stretch to think about an attack on the Xbox Live infrastructure coming next and Steam, the digital distribution service that dominates the PC, could also be a juicy target for hackers who are looking for identity details and financial information.
Gamers might abandon these services in droves or limit their use before they are presented with security guarantees.
It’s hard to trust any gaming related service that requires personal details after the Sony debacle, but it seems to me that we as gamers are better served by giving our trust to PSN, Xbox Live, Steam and their like than by abandoning them and going back to cash-only purchases.
The future is networked, interlinked, digital and shared and the gaming world cannot be an exception, which means that, in the short term, security might continue to be a problem.
But gamers need to continue to show support for the gaming services they already use and like while also pressuring companies to prove that there are adequate protections prepared to deal with any malicious moves from shadowy entities.