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[UPDATE] PSN hack was a ‘really good time,’ says Sony network boss

UPDATE:

It has come to light that Schaaff’s comments were taken out of context. PC Mag (via Eurogamer) was in attendance during the session, and has kindly provided more quotes from the interview. Check it out below:

"We’re back online, everything’s live again around the world, and the amazing thing through all of this is that the customers have all come back, and network performance is better than ever, sales are better than ever, and we’ve been very, very pleasantly surprised by the experience. And we’re in a place where we’re really looking forward again to what’s next, what’s new, and how we can keep growing the network. It’s a pretty crazy event that we went through but we survived, and we’re back strong, and ready to go."

"It’s dramatic but that the lesson we learned from this process is that there are some crazy things going on in the world right now, and in the beginning we were very concerned that we were the focal point for this attack, and it was all about Sony, and what was Sony doing."

"I think for people running network businesses, it’s not just about improving your security, because I’ve never talked to a security expert who said, ‘As long you do the following three things you’ll be fine, because hackers won’t get you… The question is how do you build your life so you’re able to cope with those things?"

"It’s been a great experience," Schaaff concluded.

"A great experience?" said Dylan Tweeney, executive editor at VentureBeat.

"A great experience," Schaaff replied. "I would not like to do it again. One time was enough. Great learning experience."

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Tim Schaaff, president of Sony’s network entertainment, has described the recent security breach on PlayStation Network as a "really good time.”

Speaking to GamesBeat, Schaaff said it was better for Sony to have dealt with the fallout of external intrusion on its flagship online service, as opposed to putting up measures to prevent the hack in the first place.

"Great experience, really good time," he commented. "Though I wouldn’t like to do it again.”

"A determined hacker will get you," he offered, "the question is how you build your life so you’re able to cope with those things."

Hackers infiltrated Sony’s online service back in mid-April, compromising the accounts of 77 million PSN users in the process. The network was promptly taken offline while Sony attempted to rectify the situation, with PSN finally seeing full restoration at the beginning of last month.

However, the company came under fire for poor communication, with many punters miffed that the hardware manufacturer took over a week to inform consumers on what had actually transpired.