UK fines Sony $337k for 2011 data breach.

• Position: DATA SECURITY

They should have known better, stated the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in announcing it was fining Sony Europe 250,000 [pounds sterling] ($337,000 U.S.) for a violation of the Data Protection Act in 2011.

The penalty was assessed following a breach of Sony's PlayStation Platform in April 2011. More than 75 million customers' personal information--including names, addresses, account passwords, e-mail addresses, and dates of birth--was compromised, as were customers' payment credit card details.

ICO's investigation determined that the attack could have been prevented if software had been up-to-date.

"If you are responsible for so many payment card details and log-in details then keeping that personal data secure has to be your priority. In this case that just didn't happen, and when the database was targeted--albeit in a determined criminal attack--the security measures in place were simply not good enough," said David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of data protection.

"There's no disguising that this is a business that should have known better. It is a company that trades on its technical expertise, and there's no doubt in my mind that...