Group: Validating
Posts: 17362
Joined: 30-May 04
Member No.: 853
QUOTE
Valued PlayStation Network/Qriocity Customer,
We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:
1) Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services;
2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by re-building our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.
We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state/province, zip or postal code), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, to be on the safe side we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may also have been obtained.
For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security, tax identification or similar number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your PlayStation Network or Qriocity user name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well. To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant to review your account statements and to monitor your credit or similar types of reports.
We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please check www.eu.playstation.com/psnoutage should you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Sony Network Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment Teams
Group: Validating
Posts: 17362
Joined: 30-May 04
Member No.: 853
I don't like the idea of the secret question/answer being compromised. That could get you in to all manner of other websites. I guess I ought to go and change all my passwords.
Group: A-list
Posts: 15212
Joined: 30-May 04
From: London via Yorkshire
Member No.: 870
handy FAQ from Kotaku.
The BIG PSN Outage FAQ How long has PSN been down? The system went down last Wednesday, April 20th. (That's six days if you're keeping score.)
When will it be back? No one really knows, not even Sony. Current rumors suggest that PSN may be going back online in Japan today (4/25), with the US and Europe coming back tomorrow. (4/26)
Can I play games without going online, either by myself or with a friend locally? Absolutely. Almost every PS3 game, whether it's played via disc or download, will work so long as you're using a mode that doesn't require PSN access. (That's internet multiplayer, mostly.) There is a small exception to this, which I'll explain a little later.
What about using a LAN? Sure, a setting up a little LAN party would be a great alternative. The only problem is that the selection of LAN-capable PS3 games is pretty limited.
Is Anonymous responsible? Probably not. The group has publicly denied their involvement, and there has been no definitive proof to say otherwise.
So why are they being arrested? They aren't. The rumor is based on an old press release from January.
If the network was hacked, should I be worried that someone is stealing my credit card number? Sony has said that they are investigating whether or not any credit information was stolen. As of now, they haven't said anything about the status of that investigation. So far there have been no credible reports of identity theft connected to the shutdown.
Some games use digital rights management to prevent piracy. Will that affect my ability to play? As of now, the only games that we know to be affected are a pair of Capcom downloadable games, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 and the Final Fight/Magic Sword game pack.
So I can't play any games online or use PSN. Can I still use non-game PSN apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc? Nope. No game modes, apps or DLC connected to either PSN or Qriocity are currently available.
UPDATE: As you can tell from the comments section, we are getting conflicting reports on whether or not Netflix is actually working at the moment. Many commenters and forum-goers have claimed that they've been using Netflix for days, often noting that the service doesn't always connect right away, but starts up on the second or third try.
What about features like the browser, which use the internet, but aren't connected to PSN? Users have reported via forums that the PS3 browser still works.
Can I still get system updates? The system update feature is not connected to PSN and is therefore functional. (Ever notice that you have to sign out of PSN to download an update?) Users can still also download system updates via the Playstation website.
Is there a chance my trophies could get wiped? Trophies will not update as long as PSN is down, but since most of them are not internet-based, it's likely (but not definite) that the trophies that you earn during the shutdown will be added to your account when it updates once PSN is back online. If you were to delete your account or if your console were to crash, however, you would definitely lose any trophies earned while PSN is down. Currently, it is not possible to check trophies via the Playstation website.
Will I lose my saved game data? Not likely, your saved game data is stored on your hard drive, and therefore should not be affected by the outage.
Am I more likely to lose my data if I've been using the cloud storage feature of Playstation Plus? No. While you definitely aren't able to update any data you've saved in the cloud, the cloud data is technically a copy of whatever was saved from your machine, so even if the back-up data was lost your save would still be in tact on the machine where it was originally recorded.
Sources: The Official Playstation Forum NeoGAF PS3Trophies.Org IGN
This is slightly funny for me on 2 levels. Personally the last time I tried to buy something, some months ago it wouldn't allow me to enter my card details so I had to use a voucher to buy things on the store, I know this also happened to someone else as well.
Professionally I deal with the film side of the PSN and they haven't said anything to us about the issues despite it being all over the news and me receiving the original post email, they're acting like things are working as usual haha.
Group: Validating
Posts: 17362
Joined: 30-May 04
Member No.: 853
QUOTE
The PSN issue continues to trundle along, picking up rumours and creating doubts and fears along the way. Sony look set to finally address those fears and hopefully give their customers some more concrete indication of the network’s schedule of return with a press conference tomorrow.
Kazuo Hirai is to talk to the world’s press at the conference in Japan tomorrow at 2PM, local time (that’s 6AM in the UK or 1AM, EST). It is obviously unknown what Kaz will say but we’d expect some further (or at least more detailed) information about exactly what was compromised, how it was stored and a more detailed road map for switching on what we hope will be a new and improved service.
The PSN hack and subsequent downtime has made international news, doubtless damaging Sony’s reputation as well as its stock price. Hopefully this press conference is the first step towards regaining consumer trust and keeping a more regular and informative communication with their consumers.
Source: Reuters
Not sure how accurate that is - a press conference on a Sunday?
Professionally I deal with the film side of the PSN and they haven't said anything to us about the issues despite it being all over the news and me receiving the original post email, they're acting like things are working as usual haha.
Qriocity's three services, VOD powered by Qriocity, Video on Demand* and Music Unlimited* are still down, have just checked.
Group: Z-list
Posts: 182
Joined: 18-August 09
Member No.: 65191
I hope their welcome back compo isnt just some playstation home avtars-Some free DLC or rental movies would be good
Still rather it be down longer but returned stronger then having my details stolen again...not that I plan on changing my birthday or nme any time soon
... some developments tonight on the Qriocity side of this debacle, the framework for the services is back up now, however there is still no content available. When I've checked before the servers were unobtainable.
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PSN buggered, UPDATE: 15/5, restoration has begun!
Apr 26 2011, 19:06
I guess I ought to go and change all my passwords.
