11 Accidental Video Game Events That Cost THOUSANDS
7. PlayStation Network - Hack Of 2011
Our online profiles contain a lot of personal and sensitive information. Something as minor as an account for your PlayStation contains names, email addresses and even bank details. That’s why in 2011 when the PlayStation Network was hacked there was a a great deal of panic. Over 77 million accounts had been compromised and the network even had to be shut down.
The attack on the network happened between April 17th and April 19th, 2011, it seemed at first to only cause connectivity issues. However, Sony was aware and choose not to tell the public until 20th April when all online services had to be suspended.
A skeleton service was implemented on the 1st of May but wasn’t completely up until the 14th. People were, of course, panicked by this, the fact that your personal info may have been stolen along with lack of access to services caused an uproar.
Sony would perform what damage limitation they could be retrieving and deleting account holder’s information, and they also offered compensation in the way of a free game from a certain selection to all impacted.
However, the impact on the company’s finances weren’t just from these free giveaways, but a massive drop in confidence when it comes to the PS Network.