Sony fined £250,000 after millions of UK gamers’ details compromised in 2011 Playstation hack

It was one of the biggest hacks of 2011 from a media standpoint, and at least some of those involved were subsequently arrested.  But Sony’s woes from the hack are not over and it has now been hit with the biggest monetary penalty ever issued by the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office for a data breach. From the ICO:

The entertainment company Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited has received a monetary penalty of £250,000 from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.

The penalty comes after the Sony PlayStation Network Platform was hacked in April 2011, compromising the personal information of millions of customers, including their names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth and account passwords. Customers’ payment card details were also at risk.

An ICO investigation found that the attack could have been prevented if the software had been up-to-date, while technical developments also meant passwords were not secure.

David Smith, Deputy Commissioner and Director of Data Protection, said:

“If you are responsible for so many payment card details and log-in details then keeping that personal data secure has to be your priority. In this case that just didn’t happen, and when the database was targeted – albeit in a determined criminal attack – the security measures in place were simply not good enough.

“There’s no disguising that this is a business that should have known better. It is a company that trades on its technical expertise, and there’s no doubt in my mind that they had access to both the technical knowledge and the resources to keep this information safe.

“The penalty we’ve issued today is clearly substantial, but we make no apologies for that. The case is one of the most serious ever reported to us. It directly affected a huge number of consumers, and at the very least put them at risk of identity theft.

“If there’s any bright side to this it’s that a PR Week poll shortly after the breach found the case had left 77 per cent of consumers more cautious about giving their personal details to other websites. Companies certainly need to get their act together but we all need to be careful about who we disclose our personal information to.”

Following the breach, Sony has rebuilt its Network Platform to ensure that the personal information it processes is kept secure.

Jay Alabaster of IDG News Service reports that Sony plans to appeal the fine:

“SCE disagrees with the ruling and is planning an appeal,” said Satoshi Fukuoka, an SCE spokesman in Tokyo.