After PlayStation Hack, Sony Hires Homeland Security Official

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In the wake of an April hack that took down its PlayStation Network for almost a month, Sony on Tuesday announced that it has hired a former Department of Homeland Security official to head up information security and privacy issues.

 

Philip R. Reitinger has been named Sony's senior vice president and chief information security officer, effective today.

 

Reitinger will be charged with "assuring the security of Sony's information assets and services," Sony said in a statement. "He will oversee information security, privacy and Internet safety across the company, coordinating closely with key headquarters groups and working in partnership with the information security community to bring the best ideas and approaches to Sony."

 

Reitinger will report to Nicole Seligman, Sony's general counsel.

 

After serving as chief trustworthy infrastructure strategist at Microsoft, Reitinger joined DHS in March 2009 as Deputy Undersecretary of the agency's National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). Later, he was also named director of the National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC). He resigned his DHS post in May, days after the White House unveiled a cyber-security proposal that it hopes Congress will use as a framework for legislation.

 

Sony, of course, was dealt a blow earlier this year when its PlayStation Network went down on April 20, with Sony Online Entertainment following suit on May 2. The system finally started coming back online in late May, but issued remained.

 

In a series of interviews following the hack, Sony CEO Howard Stringer insisted that "nobody's system is 100 percent secure," and said the breach "is a hiccup in the road to a network future."

 

At last week's IFA conference in Berlin, meanwhile, Stringer acknowledged that "at Sony, have been flooded, we've been flattened, we've been hacked, we've been singed," but "the summer of our discontent is behind us." Sony has added more than 3 million new customers since the network came back online, he said.

 

In mid-August, Sony discounted the price of the PlayStation 3 by $50 in North America and Europe to spur sales.

 

Source: Chloe Albanesius