Assignment 4: Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security

Bus 508 – Contemporary Business

Abstract
Modern business depends on complex electronic information systems that require computer and internet capability to keep that information flowing. There is a problem when someone outside of that business relationship between the business and the consumer interferes, or hacks, that information flow. An entire industry has been created to protect that information flow from being “hacked”. In 2011, Sony went through what is known as the largest security breach in history. The breach affected 77 million PlayStation Network users, 24.5 million users of Sony Online Entertainment and many more customers across the nation. All this was caused, according to Sony, by an “outdated database from 2007” (Lina, 2011).

Assignment 4: Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security
In 2011, there were more than 300 corporate security breaches. Sony, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney are among the major firms that have reported to their customers that they have been hacked (Mintzer, 2011). Hacking is continuously happening to companies all over the world.
Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony Corporation was founded on May 7, 1946. The headquarters is located at 1-7-1 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075, Japan. Its corporate executive officers include Howard Stringer, Chairman, and Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO. The major products that it sells are televisions, digital imaging, audio and video players, personal computers, semiconductors, electrical components, professional solutions and medical equipment. The major offices and research centers for Sony Corp. are Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Miyagi, Japan. The latest head count was 162,700 people. Finally, the consolidated sales and operating revenue for 2011 was 6,493,200 million yen (Sony, 2011). The corporation also has many other affiliated companies such as Sony Pictures Television, Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment. When Sony was hacked for the second time in 2011, there were many other businesses and individuals who were affected.
The way that Sony dealt with the hacking incident was through the freezing of user accounts. They would forcefully log out the users, then make them log back in, but change their password. This way they would know for sure that the information that the hackers had was no longer accurate. On October 11, 2011, Sony’s online gaming and entertainment networks froze 93,000 accounts due to the networks detection that a third party had just attempted to sign in using stolen IDs and passwords (Olson, 2011). This was not the first time that Sony was hacked. In April of 2011, hackers compromised 100 million accounts and did not notify customers until one week later. The hackers, whom call themselves LulzSec, broke into SonyPictures.com and compromised over 1,000,000 users (Schwartz, 2011). The information that was compromised included personal information, passwords, email, addresses, dates of birth and all other data associated with having a Sony account.
Sony has established the Sony Global Information Security Policy and its related subordinate rules, the Sony Global Information Security Standard, which set forth Sony's commitment to information security and define policies to be followed by all Sony personnel (Sony, 2011). There is an actual organization that is in charge of developing, maintaining and implementing this policy. They are also responsible for information security at Sony Group companies and its global affiliates. This organization also formulated the Global Basic Principles on Personal Information which reinforces internal rules and business processes to ensure the appropriate handling of the personal information of its customers and business partners. Employee awareness of both information security and personal information management is vital. According to the Sony website, Sony Corporation requires training programs for its employees to increase their understanding and improve the overall level of information security and personal information management (Sony, 2011).
One suggestion to Sony is to encrypt the data that they are storing; especially if it is sensitive like credit card information. That should also go for passwords to the different websites and secret security questions. The reason why the passwords should be encrypted as well is because even if the credit card data is secure, once a hacker logs into an account, they could find all the information they need to steal a person’s credit card and identity. Another suggestion would be that Sony should update their security measures more often so that the technology they are using to secure their network does not become outdated.
Keeping up with the times and the latest technology is crucial not only to Sony but also for individuals. All individuals should have at least one way of protecting their identity. It does not matter if it is setting up a trigger at your bank so that they do not allow very big withdrawals of money or make sure that foreign transactions are not authorized on your accounts. Steps must be made proactively by every person to avoid the pain of identity theft.
Most companies work to protect their customers’ identities by hiring high level security companies to set up systems to prevent outside hacking of their systems. However, that might not be enough. RSA Security is one of the most reliable security companies that are used to protect many organizations and individuals’ information. On March 17, 2011, a hacker was able to gain remote access to an employee’s computer from where he stole 40 million employee passwords and other systems (Scott, 2012). I believe that the more technology advances, then security measures also become more complex; however, hackers also grow and come up with more sophisticated ways to beat the system. I believe it will be a never ending process trying to keep up with the ever evolving business world. Even the government is at risk for hacking and breaching of security. LulzSec, the group responsible for the Sony breach, also is a known supporter of WikiLeaks, which is full of classified documents and information.
Technology has become essential to most business transactions in the global market. It makes information, goods and currency more readily available and transferrable. When making business transactions over the internet with the use of a company IP address, a personal computer, or a mobile device, several steps are taken to secure customer and company information. A person’s identity must be identified through the use of passwords, personal questions or account numbers. Once a customer has entered this information on any website or device, that information is out there in the information highway. Though most companies use very experienced and expensive security systems to protect user information, there is still a possibility that the information will be hacked, from an outside source. When an unauthorized agent gains access to a computer or computer system, it can cause irreparable damage to the entire system or network and most importantly, it puts customer’s personal information available to others and at risk for identity theft.

References
Mintzer, Rich. (2011, October 3). More Than 300 Corporate Security Breaches Reported in 2011. http://www.savingsaccounts.com.
Scott, Damien. Bracetti, Alex. (2012, May 9). The 11 Worst Online Security Breaches. http://www.complex.com.
Lina. (2011, May 4). Sony’s Security Breach May Be the Biggest Personal Data Heist in History. http://www.lavasoft.com.
Olson, Parmy. (2011, October 12). Sony Freezes 93,000 Online Accounts After Security Breach. www.Forbes.com.
Sony Corp. Info. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from www.sony.net/SonyInfo.
Schwartz, Mathew J. (2011, June 3). Sony Hacked Again, 1 Million Passwords Exposed. Information Week Security. www.techweb.com.