Sony President Issues Apology Letter

Howard Stringer, the president of Sony USA, has posted an apology letter on Sony's website, and while the letter doesn't offer any more info on the attacks or Sony's response, it is an interesting read. We already know that Sony is offering PSN gamers compensation for their stolen data, as well as hugely beefing up security for free, but Stringer's letter is the emotional, personal response to the issue. Stringer apologizes to gamers, writing:

"As a company we — and I — apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack."

Stringer goes on to explain the amount of time that Sony took to notify consumers as to the security breach:

"I know some believe we should have notified our customers earlier than we did. It’s a fair question. As soon as we discovered the potential scope of the intrusion, we shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and hired some of the best technical experts in the field to determine what happened. I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had — or had not — been taken."

I was most struck by this quote from Stringer:

"In the last few months, Sony has faced a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But now we are facing a very man-made event – a criminal attack on us — and on you — and we are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible."

While the entire letter is carefully crafted, neutral corporate-speak, the above paragraph almost seems to show anger at the situation and the people responsible, as well as tying Sony and gamers together as co-victims in the security breach. Tacitly comparing the security breach to the recent natural disasters in Japan is a bit tasteless, but it shows the seriousness with which Sony is taking the situation, and exactly how disastrous they regard it as.

Of course, most PSN gamers are most interested in one question: When will the PSN be back up? According to Stringer, it will be in the "coming days."

"In the coming days, we will restore service to the networks and welcome you back to the fun. I wanted to personally reach out and let you know that we are committed to serving you to the very best of our ability, protecting your information better than ever, and getting you back to what you signed up for – all the games and great entertainment experiences that you expect from Sony."

So, what do you think of Stringer's letter? Let us know in our comment section.

Source: Sony