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[wayward archer]

So according to Geo's logic, Sony Execs (the guys who WANT more money) told their engineers to not spend money on securing the system... in which they have invested in.

My god he's stupid. He knows how to work a piece of technology, but really?

Well who knows who made the decision not to have a single extra security gate on their end. Ultimately it is the management's responsibility to know if they are hiring the right people and at least understand the design of the system that their business runs on.

A huge problem with businesses today is that the people that run it don't understand anything at the ground level and occasionally make a bad decision because of it.

Blame whomever you want but what sony did was basically buy one really good lock for the outside door (except it had a cruical flaw that anybody who owned a PS3 could modify it into a key to that door), then didn't bother locking some of the inside doors. Someone finally got in and had access to a lot more stuff than they would have had it been Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Free NGP's for journalists at E3 since we can't get onto PSN right now.

btw, early release suprise

NGP releasing in Fall in US with Uncharted, Little Deviants, and that Modnation Racers, is the only compenation I want from Sony on the matter...

 

[Clear]

@Steve Youngblood (and any other outraged posters)

How is getting angry at Sony helping the situation or making your life better?

Seriously, I just don't see the upside at all.

The situation is what it is, and no matter how pissed off you are, it isn't going to make a bit of difference.

Am I going to bin my PS3 in a fit of pique. No. Because its not a problem with the box that like previous "impenetrable" entities like NASA and the Pentagon, PSN has proven to be fair from hacker-proof. And there's stuff on PS3 that I like.

So therefore, going forward, its in my (gaming) interests to hope that Sony come out of this worse for wear, but wiser for it.

If that's being an apologist. Sign me up, because the way I see it Sony at least are trying to provide me with entertainment - the hackers are just being dicks.

PS.
Honest to Christ, if I hear Hotz spout of more about Sony's evil "arrogance" I going to vomit. Talk about the kettle calling the pot black.

 

[teruterubozu]

Let's take bets if Tretton makes his usual jokes about Sony (press) leaks at the beginning of their E3 conference this year.

Full body scan & fingerprint at badge pickup.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Why are you joking right now.

PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THE STREETS.

OMG! It's happening! It's real! MORTAL KOMBATTTTTTTTT!!!

 

[btkadams]

You are right that they don't have to be apologists, but it sure seems like there are people out there who not only aren't concerned with their privacy but want to make sure other people aren't concerned either. It's frustrating to read. No, this security breach isn't the end of the world, especially for tech savvy people who probably frequent these forums. But for my sister and her husband it could be a serious issue that they would have no knowledge about (they haven't received an E-mail yet) but for the media coverage and my warnings to keep an eye out.

Also, you aren't opted into RealID via the Blizzard forums, is what I was getting at.

agreed. it could definitely fuck up things bad for less tech savvy people. it's definitely a wake-up call to people who use the same passwords on everything.

also i didn't know that about realid. i've never really gone to the blizz forums.

 

[Jinfash]

You are right that they don't have to be apologists, but it sure seems like there are people out there who not only aren't concerned with their privacy but want to make sure other people aren't concerned either. It's frustrating to read. No, this security breach isn't the end of the world, especially for tech savvy people who probably frequent these forums..

Agreed. There are almost as many people downplaying this, as the ones overreacting. I don't think the case has run its course, so I don't understand why so many are quick to sweeping it under the rug.

Here's a hunch: we haven't yet gotten to the bottom of this, so people should get used this.

 

[VisanidethDM]

The thing is, as consumers, the concern is how it impacts us. Any time worrying about the integrity of our personal data, getting new cards, changing auto-payments, monitoring credit reports, etc. is a waste. That's what they care about. Also, let's not forget again that their product -- the PS3 they bought -- is currently not working as advertised due lack of functioning connectivity.

I am just utterly amazed at the notion that I'm apparently supposed buy into the sentiment of "perk up consumers who have made it possible over the years for Sony to make money by buying their products and trusting them, because though it sucks for you right now, it sucks way worse for Sony. They're the victim here, not you. Now get back to canceling your cards and not being able to play games online and quit complaining."

I'm not being apologist. I'm reserving the judgement on what fault Sony has in this affair until I have anything solid to base this judgement on, instead of screaming "Fuuuuuu Sony" just because. If forming opinion on facts and not factoids is being an apologist, then I'll gladly be labeled one. Or simply, I won't condemn and won't absolve until I have the tool so.

That out of the way, again, I'm being practical. I made my phone calls and I'm not blogging about it over the net. I completely agree that time is money, but as a working adult I can honestly say that given the time lost weekly in public offices, compiling documentations or generally fighting bureocracy just to be able to buy something that was offered to me (case in point, I've been offered a company insurance by a company that courted me for over a year, and after I finally caved in, I've been spending hours on end in the last few weeks digging all the stupidly pointless documents they want in order to be actually sure they want to sell me the product they want to sell me), I really don't see this "incident" as something newsworthy. I lost around 15 minutes about it. I consider anyone spending hours screaming about this or claiming this is devastating for their lives either very young/immature or insane, but that's for another discussion.

I find the issue of the situation Sony stands in now a lot more interesting. This is sort of a first in the industry and what the consequences will be is much hotter topic than reading a blog report from 2000 people complaining about how Sony/hackers wasted 20 minutes of their lives.
Meanwhile real money is being lost by a company that wasn't exactly having the time of their lives in the gaming biz, and whatever their reaction (and the userbase reaction) will be, it will be extremely interesting to see. I don't expect Sony to drop dead after this (it would be ridicolous) but something will happen, and that intrigues me.

There's also another, even more interest layer of "high quality" drama (compared to the "whitewhine" - a definition I loathe, btw - about anonymous people having to call their banks) in this situation. IF hackers hit Sony to punish them for their recent behaviour, and they get away with it, they'll be able to say that they've actually shown the industry that they have real power to affect them. On the other hand, if these leaked info are used en masse to actually steal money, the reaction from authorities could be interesting. If hacking becomes something that threatens the customer's faith in online transactions, then the system (who's been moving towards online to cut costs for a decade now) won't stay passive in front of it.

In short, it's interesting times, much more interesting than the complaints about the colossal damage every individual is or isn't receiving from this situation. I'm not defending Sony. I don't give a damn about Sony, actually, and I'm confident it's possible they completely fucked this up - but I'll wait to say that until I know it's true. However, I'm more interested about Sony and the industry and the potential ripercussions on digital crime and the laws regulating it than I am about consumers "suffering" something I suffered and barely noticed. I've experienced the insane hardship of this situation, and I humbly object that it's nothing worth discussing, expecially if it distracts from much more fascinating matters.

 

[teruterubozu]

I lost around 15 minutes about it.

+ apologist time.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

@Steve Youngblood (and any other outraged posters)

How is getting angry at Sony helping the situation or making your life better?

Seriously, I just don't see the upside at all.

I'm actually not outraged at all. Really. I just understand consumer psychology enough to know that it's a perfectly normal reaction. Consumers want products to work as advertised and not be inconvenienced with nuisances that are detrimental. What they want is video game console that has access to a store and online play with their friends. What they don't want is for that connectivity to disappear for weeks while simultaneously being cautioned that personal info has been compromised, and thus getting new cards or changing passwords wouldn't be a terrible idea. Because, you know, that's not why they bought the system.

It's not to me, but to some people this is understandably a big deal. They want something to direct their dissatisfaction at. "Fuck hackers" might be valid, but it's unproductive. Therefore, it's understandable that the company in charge of preventing things from happening like this will take a consumer confidence beatdown because, again, their product isn't working and the trust given to them in keeping this data safe was apparently misplaced. This just seems like a perfectly rational reaction to me.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Anyone who thinks that all of the IGN Editors are a bunch of corporate cheerleaders should listen to the short episode of Podcast Beyond that they put up recently. (I know it's probably been discussed here at some point.) It's basically just Colin Moriartie ranting about Sony's lack of communication during this whole incident, and I found myself agreeing with most of his opinions.

 

[VisanidethDM]

Agreed. There are almost as many people downplaying this, as the ones overreacting. I don't think the case has run its course, so I don't understand why so many are quick to sweeping it under the rug.

Here's a hunch: we haven't yet gotten to the bottom of this, so people should get used this.

This is sensible, however I'm somewhat disappointed (but not surprised) to see that nobody is apparently willing to discuss WHAT identity theft could actually lead to.

Once again, the only people interested in your data are either people who already know you by name (and PSN has no info they couldn't have otherwise, expect possibly emal and date of bird) or people who know your PSN nick.

I tried to spring some discussion over where these scenarios could lead, but it wasn't picked up.
I'm genuinely curious. What's the danger here?

 

[VisanidethDM]

+ apologist time.

A powerful answer. I will meditate over your fine analysis.

 

[get2sammyb]

Agreed. There are almost as many people downplaying this, as the ones overreacting.

It's not a case of downplaying anything, more using common sense. I agree with what you're saying, but based on the information we have available now people suddenly appearing in the thread, spouting off about a £0.99 charge that they can't remember making, is not helping.

I've seen at least three occasions in this thread where a poster has done that, only to return a few pages later to jokingly point out he'd forgotten about *insert random purchase here*. That's cool, I get that people are concerned. That's ok. But these kind of posts are not helping, they're merely fueling more concerns. And what's more they totally run against the official information we have available.

 

[VisanidethDM]

It's not to me, but to some people this is understandably a big deal. They want something to direct their dissatisfaction at. "Fuck hackers" might be valid, but it's unproductive. Therefore, it's understandable that the company in charge of preventing things from happening like this will take a consumer confidence beatdown because, again, their product isn't working and the trust given to them in keeping this data safe was apparently misplaced. This just seems like a perfectly rational reaction to me.

Now this I agree with, as in - it's rational. I disagree, and don't see it as a big deal, but I would be much interested in discussing how this could be a big deal.
We've seen that CC scams are not harmful to consumers (as shown by the fact that banks are reacting faster than consumers do to them, since they're harmful to them instead).
I'd be interested in discussing the issue of identity theft. What is people actually fearing here?

 

[get2sammyb]

Anyone who thinks that all of the IGN Editors are a bunch of corporate cheerleaders should listen to the short episode of Podcast Beyond that they put up recently. (I know it's probably been discussed here at some point.) It's basically just Colin Moriartie ranting about Sony's lack of communication during this whole incident, and I found myself agreeing with most of his opinions.

Yeah, I must admit I think they were quite fair in that episode. They didn't speculate or fuel paranoia, they just explained the situation as they understood it and focused on the most disappointing part of the whole situation -- the limited communication.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Anyone who thinks that all of the IGN Editors are a bunch of corporate cheerleaders should listen to the short episode of Podcast Beyond that they put up recently. (I know it's probably been discussed here at some point.) It's basically just Colin Moriartie ranting about Sony's lack of communication during this whole incident, and I found myself agreeing with most of his opinions.

Dont know, just glad they informed us instead of doing like banks and using snail mail or waiting until they had 100% confirmation that card data was not taken...Id rather react when facts are known versus premature conjecture.

 

[Alx]

I've seen at least three occasions in this thread where a poster has done that, only to return a few pages later to jokingly point out he'd forgotten about *insert random purchase here*. That's cool, I get that people are concerned. That's ok. But these kind of posts are not helping, they're merely fueling more concerns. And what's more they totally run against the official information we have available.

They could be false alarms or coincidences, but it could also be the best way for us to estimate if the risk of CC data being leaked is high or not.
Of course it's all anecdotal data, but if it could be gathered and tracked, it would be an indicator like others. It's how the threads about dying 360s or PS3s started...

 

[VisanidethDM]

It's not a case of downplaying anything, more using common sense. I agree with what you're saying, but based on the information we have available now people suddenly appearing in the thread, spouting off about a £0.99 charge that they can't remember making, is not helping.

Incidentally, the iTunes store and similar services are actually dangerous in this situation. It's quite unlikely that many will see their CC information used for buying Apps on the Apps store, but that kind of transaction will probably fly under most radars. For example, I'm covered for 50€+ expenses, but I have to monitor microtransactions myself.

 

[snap0212]

I kind of feel like a fool right now for not reading the latest FAQ before posting today. Everything I said was based on the (not existing) knowledge about how good Sony's security measures are/were. Reading the FAQ, I now know for a fact that Sony's security measures were not as good as they could have been. Sony says that they'll “enhance security and strengthen [their] network infrastructure” and that they'll “initiate several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security”.

That, to me, shows that they were not already doing what they could to prevent the situation we're currently in. They're basically admitting that they could have done more. Why wasn't there someone to tell them that they could (and should) do more to protect their customer's data and ensure the PSN's security?

 

[xbhaskarx]

Well I finally got my email from Sony with "Important information regarding PlayStation Network and Qriocity services"... after however many days it's been.

 

[Hex]

I kind of feel like a fool right now for not reading the latest FAQ before posting today. Everything I said was based on the (not existing) knowledge about how good Sony's security measures are/were. Reading the FAQ, I now know for a fact that Sony's security measures were not as good as they could have been. Sony says that they'll “enhance security and strengthen [their] network infrastructure” and that they'll “initiate several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security”.

That, to me, shows that they were not already doing what they could to prevent the situation we're currently in. They're basically admitting that they could have done more. Why wasn't there someone to tell them that they could (and should) do more to protect their customer's data and ensure the PSN's security?

All companies "can do more".
That does not mean that they were not meeting business standards.
There is no such thing as a company who can not possibly do more to secure themselves.

 

[VisanidethDM]

They could be false alarms or coincidences, but it could also be the best way for us to estimate if the risk of CC data being leaked is high or not.
Of course it's all anecdotal data, but if it could be gathered and tracked, it would be an indicator like others. It's how the threads about dying 360s or PS3s started...

The real issue at stake here is the consumer faith in digital transactions. If you read the first pages of the thread, the "it's only prepaid from now on!" call was frequent. It also explains a part of the backlash against Sony - if it's Sony's fault, if they didn't do all the could, then the supercomfortable system we know and love is still secure and we don't need to change our lifestyle.

But if we can take the horror stories and get a positive spin about it ("My card was cloned but I was refunded"), we can at least salvage the consumer faith in digital transactions. If tomorrow this happened to Valve and people became afraid of using Steam, the impact on the industry would be devastating, for example.

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

Dont know, just glad they informed us instead of doing like banks and using snail mail or waiting until they had 100% confirmation that card data was not taken...Id rather react when facts are known versus premature conjecture.

Their point was that a company should inform its customers of a potential compromise of their information as soon as they suspect that it may have occurred instead of sitting around waiting for "confirmation." Sony knew something was up.

 

[StuBurns]

No Email for me yet, as far as I know as a random PS3 user, everything is fine.

 

[aristotle]

I kind of feel like a fool right now for not reading the latest FAQ before posting today. Everything I said was based on the (not existing) knowledge about how good Sony's security measures are/were. Reading the FAQ, I now know for a fact that Sony's security measures were not as good as they could have been. Sony says that they'll “enhance security and strengthen [their] network infrastructure” and that they'll “initiate several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security”.

That, to me, shows that they were not already doing what they could to prevent the situation we're currently in. They're basically admitting that they could have done more. Why wasn't there someone to tell them that they could (and should) do more to protect their customer's data and ensure the PSN's security?

That's a terrible argument. You can always always make something more fortified. You can always add more armor to an armored car for instance.

 

[VisanidethDM]

I kind of feel like a fool right now for not reading the latest FAQ before posting today. Everything I said was based on the (not existing) knowledge about how good Sony's security measures are/were. Reading the FAQ, I now know for a fact that Sony's security measures were not as good as they could have been. Sony says that they'll “enhance security and strengthen [their] network infrastructure” and that they'll “initiate several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security”.

That, to me, shows that they were not already doing what they could to prevent the situation we're currently in. They're basically admitting that they could have done more. Why wasn't there someone to tell them that they could (and should) do more to protect their customer's data and ensure the PSN's security?

I think it's just BS damage control PR. Yeah we got screwed pretty well, but from tomorrow we'll be 200% safe again. Store will open soon. Thanks for your patience.

Wouldn't put much weight into it.

 

[marrec]

This is sensible, however I'm somewhat disappointed (but not surprised) to see that nobody is apparently willing to discuss WHAT identity theft could actually lead to.

Once again, the only people interested in your data are either people who already know you by name (and PSN has no info they couldn't have otherwise, expect possibly emal and date of bird) or people who know your PSN nick.

I tried to spring some discussion over where these scenarios could lead, but it wasn't picked up.
I'm genuinely curious. What's the danger here?

The very real danger is that if the person or persons responsible for the intrusion know anything about the value of the data than the 20-40 million PSN users (estimate) can suddenly find themselves on hundreds of brand new lists for spam, the target of large scale phishing excersizes, and large scale identity theft.

These criminals aren't meeting in back alleys looking for specific people to target, they make money off large volumes of this kind of data. Especially this kind because it's already in a nice neat little database for them to write algorithms on. Also, chances are that if you have a PSN account than you are interested in Video Games which makes the phishing excersizes even easier.

 

[Evlar]

That's a terrible argument. You can always always make something more fortified. You can always add more armor to an armored car for instance.

I would argue there is a point you can't add more armor to an armored car and, you know, expect it to actually serve as a vehicle.

(Not that this has anything to do with PSN)

 

[get2sammyb]

That, to me, shows that they were not already doing what they could to prevent the situation we're currently in. They're basically admitting that they could have done more. Why wasn't there someone to tell them that they could (and should) do more to protect their customer's data and ensure the PSN's security?

I need to step away from this thread shortly because I genuinely don't want to come across as a so-called "apologist" (as has been mentioned in this thread multiple times), but this just strikes me as an entirely glass half-full kinda response.

At the end of the day: you can always do more, right? More, more, more, more, more. Put bars on the windows. Build a fortress around the building storing the servers. Hire the military to circle the perimeter. Move operations to a resolute island in the middle of the ocean. Y'know?

I'm sure there are LOTS of websites where you have data stored that have LESS security than Sony has. It's just you'll never know about it because those services are unlikely to get targeted.

If they're meeting regulations then they did enough. It's true, you can always do more. And they've been stung badly by this, they'd be idiots if they didn't invest more. But there's surely a point where you have to say "this is good enough". Surely?

Even then, a BBC article highlighted recently how services like PSN and XBOX Live have to sacrifice some security measures in favour of ease-of-use. Something worth considering.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Still no clear ETA for PSN going back up, huh?

Dammit.

 

[SRG01]

Called Visa and I decided not to change my credit card number. I stated them what I needed to state and they said that If someone does decide to use it, I will get full payment refund. Zero liability FTW.

I don't know of any cardholder's agreement that does not provide zero liability for stolen numbers.

To put it simply, your cardholder's agreement is more bulletproof than your own bank card or insurance policies.

 

[Hex]

Still no clear ETA for PSN going back up, huh?

Dammit.

Sometime between now and Tuesday is my going impression based on what they have said.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

The real issue at stake here is the consumer faith in digital transactions. If you read the first pages of the thread, the "it's only prepaid from now on!" call was frequent. It also explains a part of the backlash against Sony - if it's Sony's fault, if they didn't do all the could, then the supercomfortable system we know and love is still secure and we don't need to change our lifestyle.

Well, understand that a lot of this is just kneejerk hyperbole. I might seem like I'm really tearing into Sony, but that's not really my game. I understand that shit happens in this cruel, cruel world, and though this ordeal is disappointing, I'm not really all that pissed at Sony. But many people are quick to react. They live in the moment, and what's happening now -- even if it will all look silly in six months -- is absolutely a big deal and they want to vent. Venting anger at Sony is perfectly rational. I don't understand why anyone outside of Sony employees would really be interested in assuaging people to not be angry at Sony at this juncture. Of course some of these reactions are over the top, but it's their right as a consumer to do so.

Obviously, this will probably boil over in the long term. People will buy stuff online, even Sony stuff!. That is, unless Sony continues to exhibit terrible PR, or something comes to light about their security undeniably being horrific and inadequate. In the meantime? Let people be angry that their product doesn't work.

 

[plagiarize]

Honest to Christ, if I hear Hotz spout of more about Sony's evil "arrogance" I going to vomit. Talk about the kettle calling the pot black.

the thing is though, that whatever colour the kettle is doesn't actually change that the kettle is correct to call the pot black.

and pots tend to be black a lot more than kettles.

and analogies remain stupid.

 

[Curufinwe]

No Email for me yet, as far as I know as a random PS3 user, everything is fine.

You already cancelled your card, right? I'm going to the bank tonight to get a debit card with a new number on it.

I got my email from Sony around 9pm last night.

 

[Majine]

Sometime between now and Tuesday is my going impression based on what they have said.

They also said "One or Two days" initially, so I wouldn't read too much into what they are saying. This is quite an unusal situation for them.

 

[Clear]

I'm just a bit annoyed that noone seems terribly interested in who did it!

Is it another SoupNazi or just a particularly irate and (maybe) skilled #OpSony member or hanger-on?

Because depending on who did it, the level of threat against consumers is significantly different.

I'd love to see a poll.

 

[angelfly]

I don't, but this guy does.

is that the source of that meme or is it just someone acting it out?

 

[Hex]

is that the source of that meme or is it just someone acting it out?

Someone acting it out

 

[RustyNails]

Has Adam Sessler done one of his soapboxes on this incident? I really admire the guy. Probably more than anyone in the gaming journalism business right now.

 

[StuBurns]

You already cancelled your card, right? I'm going to the bank tonight to get a debit card with a new number on it.

I got my email from Sony around 9pm last night.

Yeah I have my new card, it arrived this morning. Although it hasn't come with a new pincode, so I guess I'm going to have to wait for that separately. It was really hassle free for me, no charge or anything. Very comforting.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Way-hey, finally got the e-mail.

 

[marrec]

I'm just a bit annoyed that noone seems terribly interested in who did it!

Is it another SoupNazi or just a particularly irate and (maybe) skilled #OpSony member or hanger-on?

Because depending on who did it, the level of threat against consumers is significantly different.

I'd love to see a poll.

It'd make sense to me if it were a #OpSony member who decided to take it farther. They crowdsourced the DDOS and information gathering and made most of said information available to all of AnonOps. Also, it was incredibly clever of them to hit it right before the Easter weekend, but they probably should have waited 12 hours to make sure Sony was a sparcly staffed as possible.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Am I going to bin my PS3 in a fit of pique. No. Because its not a problem with the box that like previous "impenetrable" entities like NASA and the Pentagon, PSN has proven to be fair from hacker-proof. And there's stuff on PS3 that I like.

Actually...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/109174/nasa_servers_hacked.html
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/70699.html
http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/dod_admits_to_being_severely_h

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Just got the mail, I feel special now

 

[get2sammyb]

Yeah I have my new card, it arrived this morning. Although it hasn't come with a new pincode, so I guess I'm going to have to wait for that separately. It was really hassle free for me, no charge or anything. Very comforting.

Yeah, if nothing else this whole affair has reignited my trust in my bank. Hopped on the phone and I had a new card sorted within about 90 seconds. Very good service.

Now the additional information is available I was probably a touch cautious, but whatever. It helped me feel relaxed yesterday, and now I feel totally cool with the situation.

I've also adjusted my passwords so I'm much more prepared for this sort of thing in the future. I really should have acted better after the Gawker incident.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

I'm just a bit annoyed that noone seems terribly interested in who did it!

Probably because there's no way for us to know? I mean, what's the point? I'm sure Sony and the authorities care, but what am I going to do. "Well, they've denied it, but I bet it's Anonymous!" "I bet it's some random Russian dude!" "I bet it's a disgruntled Sony employee!" "I bet it's Iwata. *Laughs*"

 

[The_Darkest_Red]

One of the things that really bothers me about this whole debacle is the effect that it will have on developers. This must be absolutely devastating for Zipper, not to mention smaller devs who rely on PSN for various reasons.

 

[Zeliard]

I'm not being apologist. I'm reserving the judgement on what fault Sony has in this affair until I have anything solid to base this judgement on, instead of screaming "Fuuuuuu Sony" just because. If forming opinion on facts and not factoids is being an apologist, then I'll gladly be labeled one. Or simply, I won't condemn and won't absolve until I have the tool so.

That out of the way, again, I'm being practical. I made my phone calls and I'm not blogging about it over the net. I completely agree that time is money, but as a working adult I can honestly say that given the time lost weekly in public offices, compiling documentations or generally fighting bureocracy just to be able to buy something that was offered to me (case in point, I've been offered a company insurance by a company that courted me for over a year, and after I finally caved in, I've been spending hours on end in the last few weeks digging all the stupidly pointless documents they want in order to be actually sure they want to sell me the product they want to sell me), I really don't see this "incident" as something newsworthy. I lost around 15 minutes about it. I consider anyone spending hours screaming about this or claiming this is devastating for their lives either very young/immature or insane, but that's for another discussion.

I find the issue of the situation Sony stands in now a lot more interesting. This is sort of a first in the industry and what the consequences will be is much hotter topic than reading a blog report from 2000 people complaining about how Sony/hackers wasted 20 minutes of their lives.
Meanwhile real money is being lost by a company that wasn't exactly having the time of their lives in the gaming biz, and whatever their reaction (and the userbase reaction) will be, it will be extremely interesting to see. I don't expect Sony to drop dead after this (it would be ridicolous) but something will happen, and that intrigues me.

There's also another, even more interest layer of "high quality" drama (compared to the "whitewhine" - a definition I loathe, btw - about anonymous people having to call their banks) in this situation. IF hackers hit Sony to punish them for their recent behaviour, and they get away with it, they'll be able to say that they've actually shown the industry that they have real power to affect them. On the other hand, if these leaked info are used en masse to actually steal money, the reaction from authorities could be interesting. If hacking becomes something that threatens the customer's faith in online transactions, then the system (who's been moving towards online to cut costs for a decade now) won't stay passive in front of it.

In short, it's interesting times, much more interesting than the complaints about the colossal damage every individual is or isn't receiving from this situation. I'm not defending Sony. I don't give a damn about Sony, actually, and I'm confident it's possible they completely fucked this up - but I'll wait to say that until I know it's true. However, I'm more interested about Sony and the industry and the potential ripercussions on digital crime and the laws regulating it than I am about consumers "suffering" something I suffered and barely noticed. I've experienced the insane hardship of this situation, and I humbly object that it's nothing worth discussing, expecially if it distracts from much more fascinating matters.

You and some others are greatly underestimating the potential danger here. You think you made a few phone calls and now you're in the clear? These people have your name and address and a skillful enough hacker doesn't need much more than that to socially engineer his way to identity theft.