GEOHOT Claims Theft of Sony PSN Network Data “Not Cool”

Posted on Apr 30 2011 - 4:58pm by Thomas Sharp

It looks like people are lining up to put the boot into Sony over the PlayStation Network hacking disaster. The latest to polish his hobnails and take a big swing is well known hacker Geohot.

His real name is George Hotz and while you may remember the furore over some of his exploits such as unlocking the iPhone he is probably best known for his previous chequered history with Sony. A judge ordered that Sony could get access to his PayPal account and the IP addresses of everyone who had visited his site after he told the world how to hack the PlayStation 3.

Part of the deal he had to strike with Sony lawyers recently was that he would lay off hacking off any product from Sony, but he has still laid them into verbally, saying that the blame “lies with the executives” who have declared war on hackers and “laughed at the idea of people penetrating the fortress that was once Sony”. He also blamed them for hiring more lawyers when what they really needed to get on board were more security experts.

He said that while hacking into devices is “cool”, stealing user information is “not cool”. That is definitely something that 77 million PSN users would nod in agreement with and we are still waiting to see if the loss in confidence is going to have a lasting impact on their business.

Do you agree with Geohot that Sony should have done more to protect the sensitive information that got stolen from them? What do you think Sony should do now to make up for the PSN Network down fiasco and to regain some credibility?

 

7 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Bob_Smith May 1, 2011 at 2:22 am - Reply

    The guy maybe clever but he was rather thick to publish the details and not think people would use it for bad purposes.

  2. leesharp May 1, 2011 at 10:01 am - Reply

    @Bob_Smith Just because GeoHot showed the world how to do it that dont make him thick..

    Lets say if someone found a way to fuel a car with tea or coffee im sure you would like to know how to do it.

  3. xVIDAx May 1, 2011 at 4:08 pm - Reply

    Thanks to the press conference and apologize of Sony.

    There is no justification to hate on Sony. Now they are working with FBI and security organizations to get the PS3 Hackers, they are the criminals, they are the guilty people, not Sony.

    Read the official source and the summary of the press conference: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/30/press-r

  4. Guest May 1, 2011 at 8:13 pm - Reply

    they exploited an old copy of apache running on an old copy of red hat. it had nothing to do with geohots revealing of the master keys.

  5. Playstation Deb H May 1, 2011 at 8:31 pm - Reply

    GeoHot's not so hot after all! One idiot is probably all the criminals needed to achieve the exploit on the PSN. I guess he is yet another one of those suffering from the "Einstein's got it wrong, I've got it right, please help me tell the World" syndrome. Those "sufferers" come a dime a dozen on the internet and experts have yet to find a cure.

    Picture this: a guy sits in front of a computer all day, typing code and staring at a screen while thinking he's really clever and that he's some kind of freedom fighter. Result: 77M really antagonized and disillusioned PSN users across the Globe. And all he can make of this is it's Sony's fault and "Stealing intellectual property is cool, stealing user info is not cool". WTF ?!?

    • S!cK May 1, 2011 at 10:48 pm - Reply

      You should do more research before making remarks on certain people. "Not Cool"

  6. Playstation Deb H May 2, 2011 at 8:37 am - Reply

    Stealing intellectual property OR user info are criminal acts no matter what you make of it.

    George Hotz broke the PS3 Code (and cracked the iPhone), therefore stealing intellectual property. Those who broke into the PSN stole user info. They are all criminals (again no matter what you make of it). One only needs a wee bit of common sense to understand that concept. No study, no research, no think tanks necessary.

    Hotz and company are all in the same clique, S!cK.

    But thanks for the 'advice'.

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