Sony has hired a former director of the US National Cyber Security centre to sort out the security mess on its Playstation networks.

Philip Reitinger's official title will be senior vice president. He'll be based in Washington and will report to Sony general counsel Nicole Seligman.

Sony has admitted to Reuters that the hacking of its Playstation networks was a catalyst for the appointment. The outfit needs to bolster its network security even further.

Sony shares have tanked since the April hacking, having fallen 55 percent. The hacking generated shedloads of bad publicity and made Sony's planned expansion in online businesses a non-starter.

Reitinger has good contacts. He worked for Microsoft and the US Department of Defense. Apparently he will be based in Washington.

U.S. National Cyber Security Center is part of the US Homeland Security. Its own history of tackling cyber security threats has been mixed. There have been a number of high profile hackings which have been attributed to “foreign actors”and we do not mean Daniel Craig.

Whether Reitinger's national security experience will be a help remains to be seen. Last we heard, Sony did not have the power to break down a hacker's door, bundle him into a car, fly him to a country which will turn a blind eye, while an agent waterboards him.