Sony hires anti-hack security boss

By Tom Phillips Published 6 September, 2011

Ex-US Department of Defence.

Sony has beefed up its internal security by hiring an ex-Homeland Security chief, following crippling attacks by hackers earlier this year.

Philip Reitinger joins Sony Corps as senior vice president. He was previously director of the US National Cyber Security Centre and had a stint at the US Department of Defence, reports Reuters .

The move comes just months after hackers forced Sony's PlayStation Network service offline for six weeks and left personal information tied to 77 million user accounts compromised.

"Certainly the network issue was a catalyst for the appointment," a Sony spokesman said. "We are looking to bolster our network security even further."

Reitinger is tasked with making sure such an attack never happens again.

Sony initially estimated the hack had costed the company £105 million, although more recently admitted final costs may be less.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard. @TomPhillips151 on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

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Comments (32) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #1 9 months ago

    Good to hear.

  • TelexStar #2 9 months ago

    "Certainly the network issue was a catalyst for the appointment" Network issue? Understatement? Much?

  • HyperTails #3 9 months ago

    So long as Sony do everything they can to prevent this from happening again, then its good news for gamers.

  • Snake_2011 #4 9 months ago

    good job Sony.

  • Toplinkar #5 9 months ago

    Good job Sony. But I still won't give my credit card number, PSN cards FTW!!!

  • Bmovie #6 9 months ago

    Should change his name to Frank Pritchard.

  • Vlad27145 #7 9 months ago

    Wow, now everything's safe! Just remember of how well homeland security handled 9/11!

    /going out of my way to make a REALLY bad and tasteless joke

  • BSMR #8 9 months ago

    Costed?

  • BSMR #9 9 months ago

    Sony did nothing wrong, they handled it well.

  • arcam #10 9 months ago

    Wow, now everything's safe! Just remember of how well homeland security handled 9/11!

    Should be right up his street. Just beef up security and refuse to admit to or address the reasons why they were attacked in the first place... ooh, controversial...

  • mr_pink #11 9 months ago

    Haven't Anonymous, Lulzsec, Gary Mckinnon, etc. etc. demonstrated that US government cyber security is a bit of joke? Those particular CV bullet points don't amount to all that much.

  • Anjaneya #12 9 months ago

    @Vlad27145 I appreciate your joke, but the department of Homeland Security was set up in the aftermath of 9/11 to prevent such a thing happening again.

  • slippysloppy #13 9 months ago

    I could do that Job!

    Me: Is your user data stored in text files?
    Sony: Yes
    Me: Don't it

    Seriously though, I can't believe people are congratulating Sony for doing this - if they're going to ask for people's sensitive user data and provide online payment systems, protecting their loyal customers is the least they should be doing.

  • Vlad27145 #14 9 months ago

    @Anjaneya

    Oh, pun fail then :( Never was an ace on US govt departments. Can I get out of it by blaming the CIA? ;)

  • paulf #15 9 months ago

    his password: H0rseB0ltedShutgate

  • kangarootoo #16 9 months ago

    "Director of the US National Cyber Security Centre"

    That. That is the job I want. I want business cards with it written on, and a plaque on my door with the same, and one of those discreet earpieces with the curly wire that feds wear. And I need them immediately.

    And a pair of small jet black sunglasses that you can't see my eyes through.

  • Architect_z #17 9 months ago

    Anti-Hacking, LIKE A BOSS!!!

  • arcam #18 9 months ago

    @djronz

    They might have been. What positive effects came out of Sony's march to the courtroom?

  • kangarootoo #19 9 months ago

    "What positive effects came out of Sony's march to the courtroom?"

    We haven't heard one peep since out of grumpy teenage and sometime rapper Geohot. I consider that a blessing and a bargain.

  • arcam #20 9 months ago

    @kangarootoo

    Without Sony's full court press I doubt you would have even remembered his name by now.

  • natureboy #21 9 months ago

    cool should shore up their home defences

  • kangarootoo #22 9 months ago

    @arcam

    My nose is not that far from the tech world ground. I've know who he is for quite some time now (I do not mean that to sound as ominous as it does when I read it back :) ).

  • arcam #23 9 months ago

    Yeah, fair enough :)

    But, for most people, it was Sony who made him famous.

  • cheeky_BILLY #24 9 months ago

    where's that fuckwit coolbrittania?

  • DrStrangelove #25 9 months ago

    They're also talking with Guantanamo Bay about hiring spaces for Geohot & co.

  • Dabs #26 9 months ago

    "the hack had costed ..."

    Speaking of hacks, what is going on lately with journalists' abilities to use correct English on this site? It's "the hack had cost" or "the hack costed". Not a mix of the two.

  • DrStrangelove #27 9 months ago

    "Speaking of hacks, what is going on lately with journalists' abilities to use correct English on this site?"

    It's the fucking EU!

  • antblu87 #28 9 months ago

    a bit late for that our kid

  • SG #29 9 months ago

    Ironically I'm a stickler for correcting American spellings on this forum, but given they're on about the name of an American department, it should be: "Department of Defense".

  • orangpelupa #30 9 months ago

    @spammer

    madeshopping.net?

    dont you mean -> nadeshopping.net?

    or it it nateshopping.net, a website dedicated for nathan drake goodies?


    spam spam go away! yay!
    /casted magic spell

  • Murton #31 9 months ago

    "Seriously though, I can't believe people are congratulating Sony for doing this - if they're going to ask for people's sensitive user data and provide online payment systems, protecting their loyal customers is the least they should be doing."

    I'll never understand why Sony, the victim of a criminal attack, are painted as the bad guy in this. They went over and above every other company who have suffered similar attacks simply by giving public disclosure and now, in the aftermath are making a conscious effort to ensure such an event doesn't repeat itself. Payment details were fully encrypted and passwords hashed, the only usable information that was potentially stolen is bought and sold around the world on a daily basis by pretty much everyone you have given that information to, including Government.

    I don't remember Amazon, Play, Paypal, Visa or Mastercard contacting me directly when they were attacked last year and my financial data potentially stolen. Bioware, Bethesda and CodeMasters sent out a mass email when user account information was compromised but haven't followed it up with further news on security upgrades or given other assurances on why I should continue to visit their sites or use their services.

    I truly pity those whose who have such an emotional attachment to a pile of electronics in a white box that it makes them so dismissive of a company who make a similar pile of electronics but houses them in a black box, it's really quite sad.

  • riseer #32 9 months ago

    Alot of yall twats need to stfu about 9/11 same could be said about the subway bombing in London july 7 2007.Goverments suck plain and simple but respect those that died because goverment failed them.