Shares of Sony have slid close to 6% this morning and 8% this week, with investors concerned over the impact the massive leak of personal information of users of its PlayStation network will have on the Japanese company.In Australia, Sony, who has 1 million Playstation users charges $20 a month for access to their network, which has been down for more than a week. If Sony is forced to rebate consumers for the lack of a service it could cost them over $300,000 in subscription credits alone in OZ. On top this, there is the loss of revenue from content sales like movies and new games.
There is also concern that PlayStation gamers could ditch Sony in the wake of the data theft. The theft could cost the company more than $1.5 billion, or an average of $20 for each of the 77 million customers whose data was compromised, according to Ponemon, whose firm specialises in securing information on computer networks.
Experts say Sony could face legal action across the globe due to the incident. Kristopher Johns from Alabama in the USA is the first to take action, accusing Sony of not taking “reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users.”
He also claims the company took too long to warn consumers their data has been exposed. Johns says Sony did not allow customers “to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions.”
As Sony knew about personal information being accessed for five days before it ‘fessed up, I’m right with him there.
Security experts say that Sony needs to account for the loss of that business — as well as damage to its brand — when it tallies up the cost of dealing with the breach. Other costs include notifying customers of the attack and bringing in experts to cleanse its network.
