SOE releases further breach details, 24.6 million accounts compromised

I've never been more glad to have never supported Sony or bought anything from them.

Not that I condone this at all...

But way to be dumbasses and pick a fight with Anonymous when you clearly lack adequate security.

Some one shot the hacker already!

"We understand you're upset that someone is now using your credit card to hire expensive hookers and booking pleasure trips to the Bahamas, and we feel for you, so to make up we will give you a free month of DCUO! Have fun!" - A SOE spokesperson.

Jef, you missed a key point: The passwords that have been stolen are hashed. This means that they do NOT have your full password. Depending on the nature of the hash, it's even possible that they don't have any portion of your password. Instead of PASSWORD, all they have is ######## or ####WORD.

This is a sensational story, but let's get real here. Security is by its very nature reactive rather than proactive. It is impossible to foresee every possible hole and the vast majority of these do not get discovered until after someone has exploited them.

It's not just in the online world, either. Consider airport security screening and the many stories that have come out regarding its holes. That's only your lives that are at risk there. Or how about all the different heist movies that come out; seemingly a new one every one or two years and all with clever ways of bypassing supposedly fool-proof security.

At the end of the day, security is a matter of cost vs. benefits AND convenience. While it is ultimately possible to make things nearly 100% secure (only nearly, however), the costs of doing this are ultimately prohibitive. This is both financially and practically because your security can become so strong that nobody wants to even work with you anymore -- you're just too much of a hassle.

Finally, I would wager that there is a terrible amount of hypocrisy going on in the threads that have cropped up regarding this topic. To all the people who are busy tearing down Sony over this, I ask you:

1) Do you have a Facebook page? MySpace? Blog? How much of your personal information is there for anyone to read? Even if its just your name and city it will take very little in terms of online searches of public records to get the rest of the information that the vast majority of customers had stolen from Sony. This means that you're demanding a far higher level of diligence from Sony than you practice yourself.

2) Does the door on your house have both a deadbolt and a knob key? When you leave the house do you use both keys or only one? If it's not both, you're expecting more from Sony than you practice yourself. For that matter, how about all the windows? Are they locked all the time? Do you have a security system? If so, do you arm it EVERY time you leave the house or go to bed?

3) Do you have a checking account? Where do you keep your checks? (This includes the extra checks that haven't made it into your book yet.) Are they locked in a safe someplace when it's not on your person? For that matter, have you bought scan-proof credit card holders so that your card can't be skimmed when you go about your business? When you pay at a restaurant with your card do you sit at the table while the waiter takes your card out of your sight to process it? If you have failed to close any of these holes in your financial information then you're demanding more of Sony than you practice yourself.

4) For that matter, just how impregnable is your home? Does it have armored doors? Steel walls? Bulletproof windows? Laser security fences? Biometric locks? I could go on, but think you get the picture. If your home is not 100% secure, why not? Is it because the costs are prohibitive? Wouldn't it be a dreadful hassle for yourself and your guests?

At the end of the day, I guarantee that Sony and other companies that you're trusting with your personal information are actually spending more to protect it and going to greater lengths to do so than you are doing in your own life with the same information.

If you demand higher standards from a company that you pay $15 a month to than you practice in your own daily life, you're a hypocrite. It's really that simple.