I'm going to talk about a subject that I can personally look at from two different perspectives - the PlayStation Network security breach. As both a gamer and a future public relations professional, I have a lot of feelings about the issues surrounding one of the worst cyberattacks in history. I actually wish it had happened sooner, so I could have done my case study project on it! :PAlthough I don't actually own a PlayStation 3 (crossing my fingers for Christmas!), I try to keep up to date with video games news like this. The hack has been a little hard to follow, since it has been so large with so many different factors. Have no fear, though! You can check out IGN for a great timeline of events. I've embedded the video version below if you'd prefer a quick rundown.
On April 16 and 17, the PlayStation Network was hacked. On April 19, Sony detected the intrusion. A public statement was released about the breach on April 26 - nearly 10 days later. From a PR perspective, I don't like that Sony failed to notify the public immediately, especially when personal information was compromised. Instead, the company cited "technical issues" and took the PSN down.
In my opinion, the FBI should have been called in right away to help alleviate the problem. Sony claims that they were trying to figure out what exactly happened, but it just made the company look bad. In fact, many suspected a possible cover up. I think they learned their lesson here though, because the public was immediately notified when the Sony Online Entertainment server was subsequently breached.Well, the PSN is back online, mostly. Many people have had trouble logging in or have received error messages upon returning to the service. Sony says it is due to the influx of so many users trying to get onto the network at the same time. With all of the anxious gamers out there, I can believe that. A bigger issue in my eyes is consumers' ill reactions to PlayStation's attempt to make things right.
Sony welcomed back gamers with a special package that includes a 30-day free PlayStation Plus subscription (60 days free for existing subscribers) and free movie rentals. In addition, A portion of the gaming community has said that the deal doesn't make up for all the lost time. I've heard excuses such as "well, I already own that game" or "Sony should have given us more choices." I'm a little on the fence about this, though. After all, just like this article says, PSN is a free service unlike
Honestly, I think gamers are being a little bit selfish about the whole thing. But as a PR student, I know that Sony needs to win back the goodwill of gamers. I'm kind of at a loss about how to do this, because I know first hand that gamers are whiners and will probably never be satisfied. In the end, I just think Sony needs to wait it out. The company has offered a very generous package to make up for a horrible crisis that wasn't even it's fault. Let's look at the obvious - gamers want to play games. It will be a very small minority of PS3 owners that get mad enough at the company to stop utilizing the PSN. You can't always make everyone happy, so sometimes it's best to wait it out with the critics.All in all, I think the entire situation makes gamers look bad. The hackers were a select few who decided to ruin the fun for everyone else. Let's call them... fake gamers. I hope Sony is doing the best it possibly can to catch them. Like I said, Sony could have been more upfront, but I think the company is making good on it's mistakes. Plus, I couldn't find any evidence that they were blatantly trying to cover up the incident.
What do you think? Do you still respect Sony?
Thanks for reading!
Love,
The Girl Informer
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