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"Sony has been fined \u00A3250,000 (almost $400,000) by UK authorities following the conclusion of a report into data losses incurred when its PlayStation Network was hacked in 2011.\r\n\r\nUpdate: Sony has confirmed it will appeal the decision, as per its comment at the bottom of this article.\r\n\r\nThe\u00A0Information Commissioner\u2019s Office (ICO) has levied the fine for &amp;quot;a serious breach of the Data Protection Act&amp;quot;; it is calling the case &amp;quot;one of the most serious&amp;quot; it has ever dealt with. Investigators have been critical of Sony's lack of security, and today's announcement says that the issue could have been prevented if its software had been up to date. It is also claimed that &amp;quot;technical developments&amp;quot; left many user passwords unsecured.\r\n\r\nA statement issued today from David Smith, the Deputy Commissioner and Director of Data Protection, said that Sony's protection systems were not up to the required standard and that the Japanese firm &amp;quot;should have known better&amp;quot;.\r\n\r\nThe hacking -- which took place in April 2011\u00A0-- compromised the personal details of 70 million users of the PlayStation Network and Sony's Qriocity streaming service. The intruders were thought to have gained access to personal details, such as\u00A0names, addresses, dates of birth and more. Credit card details were said to also be 'at risk', though Sony claimed soon after the incident that it had encrypted all financial data.\r\n\r\nHere's Smith's statement in full:\r\n\u201CIf 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\u2019t happen, and when the database was targeted \u2013 albeit in a determined criminal attack \u2013 the security measures in place were simply not good enough.\r\n\r\n\u201CThere\u2019s no disguising that this is a business that should have known better. It is a company that trades on its technical expertise, and there\u2019s no doubt in my mind that they had access to both the technical knowledge and the resources to keep this information safe.\r\n\r\n\u201CThe penalty we\u2019ve 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.\r\n\r\n\u201CIf there\u2019s any bright side to this it\u2019s 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.\u201D\r\nSony says it will appeal the decision. A company spokesperson provided the following statement to TNW:\r\nSony Computer Entertainment Europe strongly disagrees with the ICO\u2019s ruling and is planning an appeal.\r\n\r\nSCEE notes, however, that the ICO recognises Sony was the victim of \u201Ca focused and determined criminal attack,\u201D that \u201Cthere is no evidence that encrypted payment card details were accessed,\u201D and that \u201Cpersonal data is unlikely to have been used for fraudulent purposes\u201D following the attack on the PlayStation Network.\r\n\r\nCriminal attacks on electronic networks are a real and growing aspect of 21st century life and Sony continually works to strengthen our systems, building in multiple layers of defence and working to make our networks safe, secure and resilient. The reliability of our network services and the security of our consumers\u2019 information are of the utmost importance to us, and we are appreciative that our network services are used by even more people around the world today than at the time of the criminal attack.\r\nImage credit:\u00A0Jamiemc\u00A0/ Flickr"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/uk/2013/01/24/sony-fined-400000-in-the-uk-for-customer-data-breaches-from-playstation-network-hack/>