Sony Playstation Network hacked - 70 million credit cards stolen

ixcocoyxi

RS owner
looks like homeland security is helping out with the PSN hacking.

PlayStation Network Down Update: U.S. Congress to Investigate the PlayStation Hack; Homeland Security Also Interested in the PSN Outage [Sony’s PlayStation Network & Qriocity Troubles Are Far From Over As U.S. Government Takes an Interest in the Affair]

29 April, 2011

Homeland Security and the U.S. Congress decided to intervene and help investigate the whole PlayStation Network and Qriocity security breach and subsequent outage.

PlayStation Network Down Update: U.S. Congress to Investigate the PlayStation Hack; Homeland Security Also Interested in the PSN Outage [Sony’s PlayStation Network & Qriocity Troubles Are Far From Over As U.S. Government Takes an Interest in the Affair]

The PlayStation Network outage continues and we’re yet to find out what really happened. Sony posted a second round of Q&As on its blog regarding the situation, but that won’t suffice when it comes to calming down the potentially affected users, not to mention the authorities. And it won’t settle any lawsuits either!

Homeland Security has also stepped up to the plate to help Sony better deal with the PSN outage. The fact that personal data has been stolen following that external intrusion(s) is certainly of great interest to an organization like Homeland Security. The stuff that hackers got away with can easily be used to create false identities that would help individuals take advantage of certain situations, and, more importantly, get away with lots of money. Of course, we’re yet to see how many users the whole PSN thing has actually affected, and we’re certainly interested in hearing your story in case you already found evidence of strange activity when it comes to your credit cards.

But besides Homeland Security, the U.S. Congress is also very interested in this whole PSN predicament. Chances are they’re not hardcore PlayStation gamers, but this kind of security breach is certainly enough to convince politicians to intervene. A U.S. Congress committee is going to investigate Sony Computer Entertainment regarding the PlayStation Network breach and the kind of answers Sony provided in its two FAQ lists won’t be enough to satisfy the Congress.
 

superhypered

(╯°□°)╯ ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
Wonder how long this will play out.. Gives me free days on Wednesday to work on my car before July :)
 

ixcocoyxi

RS owner
heres another update. looks like the hack was centralized here, IN SAN DIEGO!! WTF?!!


Tokyo, May 1, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) announced they will shortly begin a phased restoration by region of PlayStation®Network and Qriocity™ services, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company also announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program to thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.

Following a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s data-center located in San Diego, California, U.S.A., SNEI quickly turned off the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, engaged multiple expert information security firms over the course of several days and conducted an extensive audit of the system. Since then, the company has implemented a variety of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information. SNEI and its third-party experts have conducted extensive tests to verify the security strength of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. With these measures in place, SCE and SNEI plan to start a phased rollout by region of the services shortly. 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

Working closely with several outside security firms, the company has implemented significant security measures to further detect unauthorized activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information. The company is also creating the position of Chief Information Security Officer, directly reporting to Shinji Hasejima, Chief Information Officer of Sony Corporation, to add a new position of expertise in and accountability for customer data protection and supplement existing information security personnel. The new security measures implemented include, but are not limited to, the following:

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

The company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months. In addition, PS3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

The company is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion.

“This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

Complimentary Offering and “Welcome Back” Appreciation Program
While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, the company is committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in each region.

The company will also rollout the PlayStation Network and Qriocity “Welcome Back” program, to be offered worldwide, which will be tailored to specific markets to provide our consumers with a selection of service options and premium content as an expression of the company’s appreciation for their patience, support and continued loyalty.

Central components of the “Welcome Back” program will include:

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.

Additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

SNEI will continue to reinforce and verify security for transactions before resuming the PlayStation®Store and other Qriocity operations, scheduled for this month.

For more information about the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services intrusion and restoration, please visit http://blog.us.playstation.com. or http://blog.eu.playstation.com/
 

superhypered

(╯°□°)╯ ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)
ixcocoyxi said:
heres another update. Looks like the hack was centralized here, in san diego!! Wtf?!!


tokyo, may 1, 2011 – sony computer entertainment (sce) and sony network entertainment international (snei, the company) announced they will shortly begin a phased restoration by region of playstation®network and qriocity™ services, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company also announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program to thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.

Following a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s data-center located in san diego, california, u.s.a., snei quickly turned off the playstation network and qriocity services, engaged multiple expert information security firms over the course of several days and conducted an extensive audit of the system. Since then, the company has implemented a variety of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information. Snei and its third-party experts have conducted extensive tests to verify the security strength of the playstation network and qriocity services. With these measures in place, sce and snei plan to start a phased rollout by region of the services shortly. 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

working closely with several outside security firms, the company has implemented significant security measures to further detect unauthorized activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information. The company is also creating the position of chief information security officer, directly reporting to shinji hasejima, chief information officer of sony corporation, to add a new position of expertise in and accountability for customer data protection and supplement existing information security personnel. The new security measures implemented include, but are not limited to, the following:

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

the company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months. In addition, ps3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered playstation network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same ps3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

The company is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion.

“this criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks,” said kazuo hirai, executive deputy president, sony corporation. “our global audience of playstation network and qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

complimentary offering and “welcome back” appreciation program
while there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, the company is committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in each region.

The company will also rollout the playstation network and qriocity “welcome back” program, to be offered worldwide, which will be tailored to specific markets to provide our consumers with a selection of service options and premium content as an expression of the company’s appreciation for their patience, support and continued loyalty.

Central components of the “welcome back” program will include:

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.

additional “welcome back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the playstation network and qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

Snei will continue to reinforce and verify security for transactions before resuming the playstation®store and other qriocity operations, scheduled for this month.

For more information about the playstation network and qriocity services intrusion and restoration, please visit http://blog.us.playstation.com. Or http://blog.eu.playstation.com/
Click to expand...
Free stuff :D
 

ixcocoyxi

RS owner
always down for free stuff :thumbs up

too bad i wont be here to enjoy it because im going on the damn boat this friday :(
 
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