Whats wrong with PSN

Sean wrote:Wait a minute, how can the hackers deny it? surely the very fact theres a group of people identified as hackers means it was hacked?

Sean wrote:Wait a minute, how can the hackers deny it? surely the very fact theres a group of people identified as hackers means it was hacked?

Liverpool wrote:Please let it be forever, I'm going tons of bargains on the web app.

haydos wrote:

Liverpool wrote:Please let it be forever, I'm going tons of bargains on the web app.

But there's only 38k items on the market compared to the normal 350k

Sony said today it believes personal identification information from
registered PlayStation Network users has been compromised as a result of
an illegal intrusion that has shut down the service for the past week.


Sony also believes PSN logins and password information may have been
illegally obtained. Patrick Seybold, Senior Director of Corporate
Communications at SCEA said the company has hired a "recognized security
firm" to fully investigate the matter and has strengthened the
network's security in the meantime for further protection.


Sony says it believes an unauthorized person has obtained the following personal information that you provided:


- Name

- Address (city, state, zip)

- Country

- Email Address

- Birthdate

- PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID


Seybold also says that "profile data, including purchase history and
billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation
Network/Qriocity password security answers" may have been obtained.
Sub-account information may have also been compromised.


There is also "no evidence" that credit card information has been
obtained, but Sony is not ruling out the possibility. "If you have
provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity,
out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card
number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been
obtained," Seybold said.


"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 contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you
have any additional questions."

Jordi wrote:It was anonymous.

[PSA for PSN users, from your pals at Joystiq: Before you start reading
this informative news post, go change every internet password you've
ever had. Done? Okay, read on!]

Nearly six days in, and Sony has
finally sent out an email to the millions of affected PSN users
explaining the prolonged downtime, and elaborating on the security
implications of the "external intrusion"
of the PlayStation Network. The most important new detail: Sony has
determined that there has been "a compromise of personal information" as
a result of the attack. The second most important new detail: "We have a
clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back
online, and expect to restore some services within a week."

So, what did the bad guys manage to steal? Uhh ... just about everything, it seems. Here's what's in the definitely jacked
column: "name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address,
birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and
handle/PSN online ID." Our takeaway: you'd better start changing
passwords if you use the same one frequently. We'll leave the decision
on whether or not to pack your bags and move away up to you.

In the possibly jacked column: "profile data, including purchase
history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation
Network/Qriocity password security answers." That leaves your credit
card information, which ... well, we'll let Sony tell you itself: "If
you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or
Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your
credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may
have been obtained." Yikes.

Sony provides a bunch of links for consumers to keep an eye on their
data. Most important is probably the free credit report services. It
also cautions PSN users to change their password when the service is
back online. Lastly, while they never directly say as much, we're going
to suggest making PSN purchases through other retailers instead of
directly on Sony's service. Well, when it works again. But after that,
stock up on some PSN points cards from anywhere else.

Update 5:22pm: While we're working on a more thorough
piece about what little old you can do in the face of such overwhelming
barbarism, we did want to share some short tips. Our first tip comes to
us from friend-of-the-site Robin Yang, who (re)tweets:
"To see what card you used w/ PlayStation Network, check your emails
from 'DoNotReply@ac.playstation.net.'" Once you've figured out what that
card is, call your bank and tell them you think it may have been
compromised. That's one part of the security equation.

Next up is your password, and it's a little trickier. Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepeck asked Sony
if there was any way to learn what password was attached to a PSN
account and was told "there is currently no way to determine what
password you were/are using on PSN." That means you should probably be
changing everything. Then again, if you followed our pre-post
recommendation, you've already done that.

Update 2 6:02pm: Maybe you live in Europe and, thanks
to the cultural and geographic gulf that separates you from North
America, you thought your data was safe? Wrong. SCEE has issued a
similar notice on the UK PlayStation blog.

This is somewhat of a larger logical leap, but if you managed – however
briefly! – to pair your Steam account with your now-compromised PSN
account last week, you need not worry! A Valve rep told Joystiq,
"Nothing to be worried about. Steam has nothing to do with the PSN
outage." So stop worrying ... about that one thing. You can continue
worrying about the PSN data breach.