DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

Is Sony getting a bad rap on its data breach?

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Dissent

There may be a lot of justifiable criticism of Sony in terms of security, but as I’ve commented previously on this blog, I don’t think “delayed notification” when they discovered they were breached was one of their sins.

Robert McMillan reports:

Sony didn’t show up for last week’s Capitol Hill hearing on its massive data breach, thought to have affected more than 100 million video gamers. But that didn’t stop Representative Mary Bono Mack from laying into the company, along with Epsilon, a marketing company that experienced a similar breach just weeks before.

“I am deeply troubled by these latest data breaches and the decision by both Epsilon and Sony not to testify today. This is unacceptable,” said Mack, a California Republican, in her opening remarks. “The single most important question is simply this: Why weren’t Sony’s customers notified sooner about the cyber-attack?”

Read more on Computerworld.

The expectation of immediate disclosure and notification is not without precedent. Last year, California fined the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital $250,000 for not complying with a state law that requires certain covered entities to notify both the state and affected individuals within 5 days after determining that they’ve suffered a breach. The hospital appealed the fine, but I have not seen any follow-up as to the results of their appeal.

So… what is reasonable in terms of time frame from discovery of a breach and public disclosure?  Part of the bad rap Heartland Payment Systems got over their breach was that despite being notified in October or November of 2008 by card issuers that they had been breached, they did not disclose publicly until January 2009.  The payment processor stated that although they had been told that they had a problem, they couldn’t find it or confirm it for months despite bringing in various experts to help them.  Should they have disclosed in 2008 before they could even confirm they had a breach?  If so, what could they have said that would have been of genuine help to those whose card numbers may have been compromised?  Wouldn’t the public have been demanding information that they were not yet in a position to provide?

I’m a privacy advocate and not a security professional, but I’d like to see the professionals come up with their own recommendations as to what’s reasonable in these situations.  If the public and legislators are making demands on entities that aren’t doable, let’s figure out what is.

Related posts:

  • Court guts much of class action lawsuit against Sony over data breach, but some claims remain
  • HHS starts to reveal healthcare breaches reported to government
Category: Commentaries and Analyses

Post navigation

← UK: Teenager’s personal details sent to wrong family
OR: Deputies: Man Used DMV Database In ID Theft →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Hacker helped kill FBI sources, witnesses in El Chapo case, according to watchdog report
  • Texas Centers for Infectious Disease Associates Notifies Individuals of Data Breach in 2024
  • Battlefords Union Hospitals notifies patients of employee snooping in their records
  • Alert: Scattered Spider has added North American airline and transportation organizations to their target list
  • Northern Light Health patients affected by security incident at Compumedics; 10 healthcare entities affected
  • Privacy commissioner reviewing reported Ontario Health atHome data breach
  • CMS warns Medicare providers of fraud scheme
  • Ex-student charged with wave of cyber attacks on Sydney uni
  • Detaining Hackers Before the Crime? Tamil Nadu’s Supreme Court Approves Preventive Custody for Cyber Offenders
  • Potential Cyberattack Scrambles Columbia University Computer Systems

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Hacker helped kill FBI sources, witnesses in El Chapo case, according to watchdog report
  • Germany Wants Apple, Google to Remove DeepSeek From Their App Stores
  • Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn sites
  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina
  • European Commission publishes its plan to enable more effective law enforcement access to data
  • Sacred Secrets: The Biblical Case for Privacy and Data Protection
  • Microsoft’s Departing Privacy Chief Calls for Regulator Outreach

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.