Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hack!

Parallaxis · Apr 24, 2011

Sony at war!

http://community.us.playstation.com/message/31072065#31072065

Apr 24, 2011 4:29 AM
Latest Update on PSN Outage

Hey everyone, here is the latest update we have about the ongoing PSN issues:

"While we are investigating the cause of the Network outage, we wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we’re able to get the service completely back up and running. Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter. Please stay tuned to this space for more details, and we’ll update you again as soon as we can."

This and further updates can be found on the Playstation Blog here: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/21/latest-update-on-psn-outage/

Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this matter.

Updated: 2:27 PM EST 4/21/11

During this time you may:

* Not be able to access the PlayStation®Store
* Have difficulty signing in to the PlayStation®Network (Like the PS Forums)
* Not be able to play online games
* See a maintenance page when attempting to access the PlayStation®Network

Note: When you log into the PlayStation Network, a message may appear which states, "the PlayStation Network has been suspended". This does not mean that your account has been suspended; it simply means the PlayStation Network has been taken offline. Please wait until the maintenance window has passed before attempting to connect to the PlayStation Network again. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Updated: 3:24 AM PST 4/23/11

From the PS Blog:

"An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share."

Thank you again for your patience.

-PS Community Team

Updated: 6:16PM PST 4/23/11
From the PS Blog:
"We sincerely regret that PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have been suspended, and we are working around the clock to bring them both back online. Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure. Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security.

We thank you for your patience to date and ask for a little more while we move towards completion of this project. We will continue to give you updates as they become available."

- The PS Community Team
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/226128/sony_makes_it_official_playstation_network_hacked.html/

Sony Makes it Official: PlayStation Network Hacked
By Keir Thomas, PCWorld Apr 23, 2011 7:35 AM

When Sony's PlayStation Network was taken offline three days ago, all eyes fell on the Anonymous group, who've taken a dislike to Sony over its treatment of hardware hacker George Hotz. The network allows online play between PlayStation 3 consoles and boasts 70 million users, so this is no small inconvenience.

Last night Sony confessed that an "external intrusion" caused the company to take-down the PlayStation Network and also Sony's Qriocity service in order "to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward". However, they're not saying anything more, or giving a time scale as to when gamers will be able to resume playing online.

What makes it strange is that Anonymous has denied being involved, claiming "for once we didn't do it" and suggesting Sony was using rumors of an Anonymous attack as cover for an internal problem with their servers. As yet Anonymous hasn't responded to the latest update from Sony.

However, the decentralized nature of Anonymous means that individuals act alone with no governance, and Anonymous admitted that "it could be the case that other Anons have acted by themselves."

The phrasing Sony used--talking of an "external intrusion"--indicates that this wasn't a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, which is one of Anonymous' most popular modus operandi. Instead, this seems to be an individual breaking into the network and this is probably why it's taking so long to clean-up--Sony has to trace every corner of their systems affected by the hacker and repair it or restore files. It's like removing a rodent infestation from a house--there's no quick and easy fix.

The break-in might even be coincidental to the recent Anonymous actions, or could be a hack attack from some time ago that has until now remained undiscovered. However, the timing is certainly suspicious, with several of 2011's most anticipated game titles launching this week, including Mortal Kombat, Portal 2 and SOCOM 4.
Click to expand...

Parallaxis · Apr 24, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Will Alpha and Para ever meet up in the game grid?
It's starting to look bad!

Parallaxis · Apr 24, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...ing-playstation-network-amid-massive-outage/1

Sony rebuilding PlayStation Network amid massive outage
By Brett Molina, USA TODAY

The "external intrusion" that was powerful enough to knock out Sony's PlayStation Network is now forcing the company to rebuild the system, according to a fresh update from the official PlayStation blog.

Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications and social media, say the significant overhaul is being performed to "strengthen our network infrastructure."

"Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security," says Seybold in the statement. "We sincerely regret that PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have been suspended, and we are working around the clock to bring them both back online."

Seybold did not indicate when the PSN would be back online.

Sony confirmed on late Friday that the PlayStation Network -- down since Wednesday -- was intentionally taken down following an "external intrusion." Initially, Seybold noted the outage would only last "a day or two."

Sony has not divulged where this "external intrusion" came from, but one group denying involvement -- according to Gamasutra -- is Anonymous, a group of hackers who threatened Sony following a lawsuit the company filed against George Hotz. For those unfamiliar with the case, Hotz was accused of jailbreaking the PS3 and then sharing instructions online. Both parties announced a settlement in the case earlier this month.

The company has not said whether personal data such as credit card information was compromised as a result.

The PlayStation Network -- which PS3 owners use to purchase games, play games online or use other services such as Netflix and Hulu -- topped 50 million registered accounts last June. According to a January report from Industry Gamers, that number has jumped to 69 million.

Game Hunters will keep you posted as more updates become available.
Click to expand...

I've heard that this has caused ps3's netflix to go down as well since it's tied into psn.

Baba · Apr 24, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

XBOX 360 is a better console love the irony.

Parallaxis · Apr 24, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

I believe XBox Live was down for a consecutive 13 day stretch, so we've yet to top that record... yet.

Baba · Apr 24, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Paralaxis they have the ps1 port of wc3 and 4 on psn. If that ever comes up. That was a fun dos game.

Patch · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Netflix works fine, if you ignore the PSN login prompts.

$corp · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Parallaxis said: ↑

I believe XBox Live was down for a consecutive 13 day stretch, so we've yet to top that record... yet.
Click to expand...

Wow, at least PSN people aren't paying for this shit.

The Exception · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Take with a grain of salt.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/gx6o4/im_a_moderator_over_at_psxscenecom_the_real/

Parallaxis · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

^
I'm sorry, can anyone now seriously dispute my claim that all this OtherOS crap is just a smokescreen for piracy?

I thought not.

Sean the Puritan · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Parallaxis said: ↑

^
I'm sorry, can anyone now seriously dispute my claim that all this OtherOS crap is just a smokescreen for piracy?
Click to expand...

Yes. Completely.

I thought not.
Click to expand...

I hope you didn't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back prematurely, Sport.

Parallaxis · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

I hope you didn't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back prematurely, Sport.
Click to expand...

Sorry I won that argument long ago...
http://wordforge.net/showthread.php?t=85012&page=2

This incident only serves to further prove my point.
The OtherOS crap is simply a smokescreen for piracy. It's beyond absurd to think any different now.

Sean the Puritan · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Parallaxis said: ↑

Sorry I won that argument long ago...
Click to expand...

Parallaxis · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Yes.

Robotech Master · Apr 26, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Sony: PSN Information Compromised
Credit card data not ruled out. "Some services" back up next week.
April 26, 2011

Updated Story: Patrick Seybold offered clarification on why Sony took as long as it did to notify PSN customers. His full statement sent to IGN is below:

There's a difference in timing between when we identified there was an intrusion and when we learned of consumers' data being compromised. We learned there was an intrusion April 19th and subsequently shut the services down. We then brought in outside experts to help us learn how the intrusion occurred and to conduct an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

It was necessary to conduct several days of forensic analysis, and it took our experts until yesterday to understand the scope of the breach. We then shared that information with our consumers and announced it publicly this afternoon.

Original Story: 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."

When the PSN originally went down, users who attempted to login were met with the 80710a06 error code. Now, a message reads "PlayStation Network is currently undergoing maintenance" if a PSN login is attempted.
Click to expand...

Wow.

AlphaMan · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

I don't know Defender... This seems like an awful PR stunt if Sony is trying to cover it's track for making the PSN faulty.

Baba · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

AlphaMan sony just did a Sharpie debacle.

Parallaxis · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Thank goodness I only use psn cards.

I'm alittle pissed about my other info being leaked. That's my good, no spam mailbox. I'm sure it will get flooded now after some jackass sells the info he stole.
I'd change my password but I can't log in! Dang. It was a good one too, long and lots of numbers thrown in. Oh well.
I can't remember if I used my actual birthday or not, usually I don't, but I have a feeling I did here.

Baba · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

I support your avatar.

We Are Borg · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

$corp said: ↑

Wow, at least PSN people aren't paying for this shit.
Click to expand...

S'okay. They'll be paying even more now that their identities have been stolen.

This is beyond EPIC FAIL on the part of Sony.

Parallaxis · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Actually Alpha IS paying for it.

I hope they give him a month of PlayStation Plus free.

Baba · Apr 27, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Paralaxxis i hear sony wants 128 meg video card for the ps4.

AlphaMan · Apr 29, 2011

Parallaxis said: ↑

Thank goodness I only use psn cards.

I'm alittle pissed about my other info being leaked. That's my good, no spam mailbox. I'm sure it will get flooded now after some jackass sells the info he stole.
I'd change my password but I can't log in! Dang. It was a good one too, long and lots of numbers thrown in. Oh well.
I can't remember if I used my actual birthday or not, usually I don't, but I have a feeling I did here.
Click to expand...

If you've used the same password/email combo elsewhere on the web, change those! Especially if they have any financial info on them.

AlphaMan · Apr 29, 2011

Parallaxis said: ↑

Actually Alpha IS paying for it.

I hope they give him a month of PlayStation Plus free.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah... I expect Sony to make this right... More than right when all is said and done.

Baba · Apr 29, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

AlphaMan can't download Wing Commander 3 of playstation network.

Parallaxis · Apr 30, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/28/qa-2-for-playstation-network-and-qriocity-services/
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/27/qa-1-for-playstation-network-and-qriocity-services/

From Sony...

Q: Are you working with law enforcement on this matter?
A: Yes, we are currently working with law enforcement on this matter as well as a recognized technology security firm to conduct a complete investigation. This malicious attack against our system and against our customers is a criminal act and we are proceeding aggressively to find those responsible.

Q: Was my personal data encrypted?
A: All of the data was protected, and access was restricted both physically and through the perimeter and security of the network. The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken. The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack.

Q: Was my credit card data taken?
A: While all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule 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. [-]Keep in mind, however that your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system.[/-] UPDATE: While we do ask for CSC codes, we do not store them in our database.

Q: What steps should I take at this point to help protect my personal data?
A: 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 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 reports.

Q: What if I don’t know which credit card I’ve got attached to my PlayStation Network account?
A: If you’ve added funds to your PlayStation Network wallet in the past, you should have received a confirmation email from “DoNotReply@ac.playstation.net” at the email address associated with your account. This email would have been sent to you immediately after you added the funds, and will contain the first 4 digits and last 4 digits of your credit card number. You can also check your previous credit card statements to determine which card was attached to your PlayStation Network or Qriocity accounts.

Q: When or how can I change my PlayStation Network password?
A: We are working on a new system software update that will require all users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored. We will provide more details about the new update shortly.

Q: Have all PlayStation Network and Qriocity users been notified of the situation?
A: In addition to alerting the media and posting information about it on this blog, we have also been sending emails directly to all 77 million registered accounts. It takes a bit of time to send that many emails, and recognize that not every email will still be active, but this process has been underway since yesterday. At this time, the majority of emails have been sent and we anticipate that all registered accounts will have received notifications by April 28th. Consumers may also visit www.us.playstation.com/support and www.qriocity.com for notices regarding this issue. In addition, we have taken steps to disseminate information regarding this issue to media outlets so that consumers are informed.

Q: What steps is Sony taking to protect my personal data in the future?
A: We’ve taken several immediate steps to add protections for your personal data. First, we temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and, second, we are enhancing security and strengthening our network infrastructure. Moving forward, we are initiating several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security and your personal data, including moving our network infrastructure and data center to a new, more secure location, which is already underway. We will provide additional information on these measures shortly.

Q: Has Sony identified the party or parties responsible for the PlayStation Network hack and subsequent theft of personal information?
A: We are currently conducting a thorough investigation of the situation and are working closely with a recognized technology security firm and law enforcement in order to find those responsible for this criminal act no matter where in the world they might be located.

Q: When will the PlayStation Network and Qriocity be back online?
A: Our employees have been working day and night to restore operations as quickly as possible, and we expect to have some services up and running within a week from yesterday. However, we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we are confident that the network is secure.

Q: Will our download history/friends list/settings be affected by the PSN downtime?
A: No, they will not.

Q: Will trophies that were earned in single-player offline games during the outage be intact when the service resumes?
A: These trophies are intact and will be re-synched when the network is once again operational.

Q: Will my PS+ cloud saves be retrievable?
A: Yes, once PSN is restored.

Q: What if we have a subscription to PS3 MMOs DC Universe Online or Free Realms? Will we get compensation for that?
A: From Sony Online Entertainment: “We apologize for any inconvenience players may have experienced as a result of the recent service interruption. As a global leader in online gaming, SOE is committed to delivering stable and entertaining games for players of all ages. To thank players for their patience, we will be hosting special events across our game portfolio. We are also working on a “make good” plan for players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms. Details will be available soon on the individual game websites and forums.”

Q: Will there be a goodwill gesture for the time we haven’t been able to utilize PSN/Qriocity?
A: We are currently evaluating ways to show appreciation for your extraordinary patience as we work to get these services back online.
Click to expand...

Fisherman's Worf · Apr 30, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

So they encrypt credit card data, but do we know if passwords are encrypted are not? Kinda lame that they don't encrypt our personal data, though.

Baba · Apr 30, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Love My XBOX

Caboose · May 1, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Man oh man, this has gone on so long it's scary.
It's also telling.
For such a network to be damaged to this extent really makes me worry a bit about other networks like government and military webs.

Now watch, as soon as it's back up the new challange for these assholes will to be to do it again.

Baba · May 2, 2011

Re: Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hac

Obama must be upset.

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Playstation Network Hacked! Down 5 days now and no end in sight. Anon group denies hack!

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