106w ago -
Update: PSN is now back online in Japan, and
Kaz Harai has made available a
video statement with all the related details.
Following news that
PSN internal testing is currently underway, today the official
PlayStation Japan site has issued an update regarding the PlayStation Network outage alongside details from the official letter Sony sent out to their publishing partners.
To quote, roughly translated: "PlayStation Network” and “Qriocity” and continued failure, I am sorry indeed. As we told the other day with the latest information in regard to future service restart, will be conducted in stages on a regional basis to ensure the safety of our customers.
We are preparing to be able to resume service as soon as possible in Japan, and is now doing the verification stage for ensuring the safety and security, providing more advanced. Server to complete the relocation of more secure facilities, further strengthening the encryption, firewalls and expansion of new customers with peace of mind again on “PlayStation Network” and “Qriocity” to stay.
We also are supporting the monitoring and the introduction of warning systems to facilitate early detection of cyber attacks, subjected to a system upgrade intended to eliminate vulnerabilities, established a system to ensure information management to protect important personal information of customers.
For those of you committed to ensuring safety, but would take some time for some time now, humbly thank you for your understanding. For the latest information, this website will guide you at any time. To everyone of our customers and partners, we deeply apologize for the inconvenience and inconvenience."
In related news,
IndustryGamers.com has shared a copy of the official letter Sony SVP
Rob Dyer sent out regarding PSN to their publishing partners, as detailed below:
Dear Partner:
As you know, certain PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment service user account information was compromised in criminal attacks against our networks. I want to assure you, as a PlayStation partner, that it is Sony’s top priority to restore our network operations and see that business is returned to usual as soon as possible.
We are working around the clock to restore service, but will do so only when we can ensure that the network can operate safely and securely. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill.
What Happened?
- On Tuesday, April 19, 2011, Sony discovered that several PlayStation Network servers unexpectedly rebooted themselves and that unplanned and unusual activity was taking place on the network. This activity triggered an immediate response.
- Sony mobilized a larger internal team to assist the investigation of the four suspect servers. That team discovered the first credible indications that an intruder had been in the PlayStation Network system, and six more servers were identified as possibly being compromised. Sony immediately decided to shut down all of the PlayStation Network services in order to prevent any additional damage.
- The scope and complexity of the investigation grew substantially as additional evidence about the attack developed.
- The forensic teams were able to confirm that intruders had used very sophisticated and aggressive techniques to obtain unauthorized access, hide their presence from system administrators and escalate privileges inside the servers. Among other things, the intruders deleted log files in order to hide the extent of their work and activity within the network.
- On Sunday May 1, using information uncovered by the forensic teams, engineers at Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) discovered that data had also been taken from their servers. They, too, shut down operations and on Monday, May 2, announced the discovery.
What Data Are Affected?
As you may know, personal data was stolen from approximately 77 million PlayStation network and Qriocity service accounts.
As of this writing, there remains no evidence that the credit card information was stolen and the major credit card companies are still reporting that they have not seen an increase in fraudulent transactions due to this event.
What Steps Are Being Taken?
We have taken aggressive action to give consumers peace of mind, protect them against the abuse of their data, and enhance our security systems moving forward.
We have already advised our consumers in the U.S. that we will offer complimentary identity theft protection services through a leading provider, including an insurance program of up to $1 million. Similar programs are being developed in other markets around the world.
In addition, Sony is taking a series of steps to enhance security of our network infrastructure. They include but are not limited to:
- adding additional automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks;
- enhanced levels of data protection and encryption, as well as additional penetration and vulnerability testing;
- enhanced capabilities to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns;
- implementation of additional firewalls;
- expediting a planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location with enhanced security; and
- appointment of a new Chief Information Security Officer.
Finally, to thank our customers for their patience and loyalty, we are offering them “welcome back” packages as soon as the networks are restored, including free downloads of selected PlayStation entertainment, 30 days of free service as well as service extensions for the number of days PSN and Qriocity services were unavailable, with similar benefits for Music Unlimited subscribers.
Looking Ahead
We of course deeply regret that this incident has occurred. We are working closely with the FBI to identify and apprehend the culprits who committed this crime against our consumers, our partners and our company. I know you can appreciate how widespread the problem of cybercrime is in society today. Although no company is immune, we are confident our consumer data will be protected by some of the best security measures available today.
As a valued partner we aim to keep the lines of communication open so that you are aware of our progress. Our focus has been to confirm the security of the networks, protect customer data and get the services back on line as quickly as possible. We will do our best to respond to all of your inquiries and we will do everything we possibly can to support you.
We are doing everything we can to bring these services back online as soon as possible. We will update you with more information as soon as we can, but please call your account executive if you have further questions. We thank you for your patience and look forward to moving ahead together in the months and years to come.
Very truly yours,
Rob Dyer
SVP, Publisher Relations
sure mate ... if I can, I will 
...
After all... who's fault is it that there is even on online database of credit card numbers and names acting as a carrot for internet nasties.
I do know that I made the choice of ps3 versus the 360 based on the "free" (rolled into the retail price) playstation network, and now I've got two pre/early teens here whining constantly, because it seems that sony is unable to effectively provide the service that sealed my (and who knows how many others) purchasing choices.
Now comes the big question folks, regardless of the details, sony owes the entire playstation network community a great debt.
How will they make good on this?
More importantly, how will they assure that this doesn't happen again?
When someone in anonymous says it wasn't them it means it wasn't talked about between 1000's of people in a IRC chat before hand. Which makes sense as it is just a limited number of people that need to be involved.
People that 'represent' anonymous and are present in their IRC channels are mostly of limited hacking experiance and are normally teens off 4chan. Whoever did this also did it for personal gain, not to help 'consumers' as anon said was the reason for the attack.
What they fail to understand is that this hurts consumers not helps. The fact is that the average PS3 owner does not care about homebrew/cfw, they do not care about linux, they do not care about geohot or anyone else Sony is suing, they do not care about backups. They DO care about PSN, their CC details, the economy and their privacy.
I think I talk on behalf of a large chunk of the PS3 population in saying that geohot, other PS3 hackers, anonymous and people running CFW on their PS3 have negatively effected our PS3, the gaming experience and more (the financial pressure Sony is under has already forced them to sack some people).
So thank you (sarcasm intended)! It's just a shame that this ego-driven PS3 'scene' does not seem to notice or care about the average person, just themselves and trying to 'get one over' the PUBLIC COMPANY that is Sony. I emphasize public company because most of these same people seem to forgot Sony is a PUBLIC company. Not a single person, it is owned by normal people, normal people work there and all the time normal people come and go.
No. ""
i take it as they haven't the names of the people, because they are anonymous, LOL