PSN Outage Continues, Sony Confirms User Info Has Been Stolen
Sony has been hard at work with the network outage that’s being experienced on the PS3. We are entering day seven now with no network activity, and more fans roll in upset with the company. In the newest statement released from Sony on the PlayStation Blog, our fears are confirmed. Sony now says that user information was at risk and it may well have been compromised.
Most PSN users will receive an email that details exactly what’s been going on with the network, and it will list some actions to take moving forward. The email reads something like this:
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 Sony Network Entertainment Europe Limited (formerly known as PlayStation Network Europe Limited) is a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited the data controller for PlayStation Network/Qriocity personal data.
Sony plans to “aggressively track down those responsible” for the security intrusion, which most likely means that the network will be down for longer than we can expect. They still list no work as to when the network will be back up and running. So to look at this from a general standpoint, you would see it as:
- Sony’s PlayStation Network was hacked, leading to a security breach
- The network has been down for a week now, and there’s no word as to when the network will be back up
- PSN user information (including credit card information, addresses, names, and birthdates) has been compromised
On top of all this, Sony hasn’t responded as to how they plan to deal with the compromised information, or if they will compensate for users’ losses. A rumor that’s been buzzing around is one that sees Sony not producing any compensation for the loss of network time players have succumbed to. The rumor goes that Sony customer service is telling PSN users to stop all activity on their bank/credit card accounts, and to file a fraud report on their credit. They are also stating, apparently, that the outage could be out for another whole week. I haven’t witnessed this first hand, which is why it’s still a rumor at this point.
With no day in sight for the revival of the network, no compensation for users’ loss, and no bridge in between, Sony is sitting in a large cauldron of hot water over this incident. My advice to any of you (as I did this myself) is to cancel your credit/debit card if it’s linked up to your PSN account, and replace it. I would also contact the entities necessary to handle any fraudulent activity. At this point it’s up to players to wait for Sony to come up with something other than this “just sit with us” method.
Have any of you contacted Sony customer service about the issue? What have you heard, if anything?
