PS3 news


Missy

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First reported credit card fraud from the hack has come through. Could be one of the biggest PR disasters for a very long time. Not sure how Sony is going to be able to rebuild the good will. I've had a friend have their identity stolen and it's not a pleasant experience at all. If it happens to anyone as a result of this, get ready for a lot of vitriol headed Sony's way.

Just to play devil's advocate (on the basis that I'm not the most technologically minded person there is), why would the vitriol be squarely aimed at Sony instead of the actual hackers? You'd assume that a company in the business of hardware would try and be as secure as possible, whereas there's a special layer of hell reserved for hackers, virus-creators and Fred Phelps. They are persistantly evil people. Sony is a company with questionable ethics (they had a DRM PR disaster about 5 years ago) but are they really to blame here?

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The logic is that it should not have been this easy for the entire network to be hacked, bought completely down, and the identifying/payment info of the entire user base, including the admins, to be hacked, and the fact that it necessitates a complete ground up rebuild of said network is a pretty big issue.

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It appears the credit card frauds were not related and that part of the database was safe.

The problem is that the data was stored in plain text (peoples personal info) so IF the firewall was broken, the data was free to take. The data behind the firewall should have been encrypted as well. The scary thing is, I'm sure Sony were just following what the majority (maybe 60-70%) of company's do.

I agree the hackers are the ones to blame, but, if a company can do more to protect the data and didn't, they have to hold some of the blame, even if their protocols were industry practice.

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Just to play devil's advocate (on the basis that I'm not the most technologically minded person there is), why would the vitriol be squarely aimed at Sony instead of the actual hackers?

Because Sony's security was insanely bad. From a few reports out there, they weren't even encrypting credit card transfers.

I don't see how every game is still going to work online if they are rebuilding the entire service.

No, that's not how the PSN works. It's complicated to explain, but the games should still work correctly. It's all on Sony's end; they need to make sure that their system can't be hacked into.

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Kaz Hirai conducted his press conference, and imparted no information that has not been out there for the past few days. However, the press conference did allow journalists to ask him some relevent questions.

Hirai was asked why Sony did not inform users sooner. Hirai noted that the firm closed PSN to "prevent any spread of the damages" and then hired three companies to analyze the damage, including analyzing "voluminous data". That's why it was necessary for Sony to take action "in a gradual way," according to the executive. Of course, that didn't answer the question of why they didn't inform their customers sooner.

The PlayStation US Blog has the list of services that will be restored, and of a "Welcome Back" program to give rewards to PSN users who've stuck it out the last 2 1/2 weeks.

The restoration will apparently be in phases. The initial phase of the rollout will include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems

• This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games

• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers

• Access to account management and password reset

• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo

• PlayStation Home

• Friends List

• Chat Functionality

The new security that PSN will feature includes:

• Added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks

• Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption

• Enhanced ability to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns

• Implementation of additional firewalls

Finally, the compensation promised by the "Welcome Back" program includes:

• Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.

• All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.

• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

Source

So, to sum up, major cyber-attack on the a Sony server at an AT&T service center in San Diego, don't know the extent of the info that's been taken, dude covered his tracks, things are moving to a more secure server, stuff will be back up soon.

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So, a bizarre new twist in all this. A file named "Anonymous" was found on the Sony server with the Tagline, "We are legion." So, it sounds like we know who's behind this, right? Well, Anonymous has actually been doing a crap ton to distance themselves from the attack which doesn't add up for them. So, it sounds like whoever did the hacking figured that they had a perfect scapegoat.

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If one guy that considers himself part of Anonymous did it, then they all take the blame for it, which I'm not completely opposed to. There are few groups on the internet that I hate more.

That said, I don't think they did it, at least, none of their big hitters did. Claiming innocence isn't their MO, though it could be them trying to cover their ass.

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I'm all for a little justified anarchy.

It's the fact that it's done by people that make death threats to elementary school girls and freely distribute child porn that I don't like.

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Free speech should be the manner in which we cause change, not illegal attacks on whatever corporation we decide we don't like.

The fact that Anon have declared themselves the unlawful "internet police" is a big problem. They're practically a non-lethal terrorist organization at this point.

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  • 2 weeks later...

From the Sony blog.

Now that some PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have been restored and you’re once again enjoying online gaming and entertainment, we’re happy to provide details about the “Welcome Back” appreciation program for customers in North America. We developed the program as an expression of our gratitude for your patience, support and continued loyalty during the service outage. From all of us at PlayStation, thank you and welcome back!

This package will be made available to all existing registered PlayStation Network and Qriocity users in North America (US and Canada), and will be made available shortly after we have fully restored the service. More specific details about these offers and eligibility requirements will be posted as the services go live.

All PlayStation Network customers can select two PS3 games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

Dead Nation

inFAMOUS

LittleBigPlanet

Super Stardust HD

Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, you will be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list. The games will be available for 30 days shortly after PlayStation Store is restored and can be kept forever.

LittleBigPlanet (PSP)

ModNation Racers

Pursuit Force

Killzone Liberation

A selection of “On Us” rental movie titles will be available to PlayStation Network customers over one weekend, where Video Service is available. Those titles will be announced soon.

30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.

Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.

Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.

Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.

To welcome users Home, PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

We’d like to thank all of our publishing and development partners who’ve contributed to the Welcome Back program, including Bigbig Studios, Codeglue, Digital Leisure, Guerilla Games, Heavy Water, Housemarque, Lockwood, Loot, Mass Media, Media Molecule, SCE Cambridge Studios, SCE Studio Liverpool, SCE San Diego Studios, and Sucker Punch Productions. We couldn’t have created such a compelling package without them!

As a reminder, you will be able to access the above content shortly after services are fully restored. We are doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible. Please visit the following sites for more information about the Welcome Back program in Europe and Latin America.

Thank you again for your support!

As an uneffected PSP owner, I'll gladly take two free games.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I snagged Infamous and LittleBigPlanet.

I would've gotten them before now, but the Infamous demo didn't hook me, and I was waiting to eventually get LBP2 instead. Once I found out that LBP1 stuff carries over into 2, I decided on that one and got Infamous just on good faith from friends who insist that it's better than the demo made it out to be.

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