[PS3] Sony plans to regain it's money & gets hacked once more.

With the now behind us Sony hacking incident of 2011, Sony Computer Entertainment lost approximate 3 billion dollars, making it the biggest profit loss in 16 years. But it wasn't just the hacking that set Sony backwards...

Update 1: We just got word that Sony got hacked again this week.


Kendra Srivastava, who writes for Mobiledia, follows up in detail Sony's currents predicament.

Sony posted its biggest profit loss in 16 years, following supply troubles in Japan, compounded by a string of a massive data breaches to its PlayStation network.

The Tokyo-based company, which has yet to fully feel the financial weight of the hacks, reported a $3 billion loss, compared to a $500 million loss a year ago.

Sony's downward spiral accelerated when the Japan earthquake damaged ten plants that made components like Blu-ray discs and magnetic tape. Sony expects at least one plant to reopen within two months, but the broken supply chain continues to affect production.

Compounding Sony's difficulties, hackers broke into its online network and stole the personal information from 100 million users in mid-April. Since then, Sony has dealt with frequent, if comparatively minor, hacks, adding further blows to its reputation.

As a result of the high-profile security breaches, the company is neck-deep in costly lawsuits. Besides having to cover insurance policies of up to $1 million for potential victims of identity theft, it is offering free games, expected to cost $170 million, for all its customers, in an effort to placate them after a month of network outages.

But the company is optimistic, forecasting $975 million in profits for the current year. Sony is betting on its "Next Generation Portable" gaming device, set to feature improved graphics, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, two cameras and dual thumbsticks, will help dig the company out of its hole. The company said it would be out later this year.

However, Sony has growing competition in the portable gaming market from smartphones, especially as on-the-go gaming increasingly moves to mobile handsets. The company relies on its strengths in gaming for a strong stream of its revenues, but as recent attacks show, it's an area that's increasingly vulnerable

Source:  Mobiledia

While I was arranging the post, it was confirmed that Sony suffered *yet* another attack this time, in Greece, Thailand, Indonesia and Canada. When hackers set up a phishing site in Thailand to a clone website where it asked the costumers for their credit card, Sony promptly removed the problem, but then two days later, the Greece and Indonesia websites exposing around 8,500 accounts before the website shutdown. 

To make things even worse, Sony Ericsson website in Canada was also hacked this week compromising the account of 2,000 users. (Mobilmedia)