PSNTT

To those unaware of why PSN is down on this beautiful day:
Sony has changed it’s PSN download/purchase policy.

After today, anything purchased on the PlayStation Store will only be downloadable on up to 2 PS3′s.
Anything purchased before today will remain downloadable on 5 activated PS3s’s.

Sony also plans to launch a webpage so that users can deactivate their psn accounts from individual PS3′s via PC.
This is great for those that have an activated PS3 that got the YLOD or a rogue friend that doesn’t want to deactivate your account from his/her PS3 .

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Certain features of the PlayStation® Network is being restored and it began Saturday May 14 in the US and Japan by territories. As of this posting, all those territories has been restored.

Also as of this posting, the PSN is up and running in Trinidad and Tobago. You will be required to change your account’s password before being able to sign-in, as was expected. Make sure your password is very strong (use a variety of characters such as numbers, capital letters, common letters, symbols such as: _, @, #, $, &, – etc.) and enjoy online gaming once again.

Remember that Sony has a ‘welcome back’ programme and more details would be revealed as the PSN gradually comes back. Currently, the PSStore is not up and I’d expect news on the programme just before it comes up.

[sources: PS.Blog, PS.Blog]

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Sony has shared some interesting information about what caused them to turn off the PSN over the past couple weeks:

Kazuo Hirai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sony Computer Entertainment America,  told the subcommittee that in dealing with this cyber attack Sony followed four key principles:

1. Act with care and caution.
2. Provide relevant information to the public when it has been verified.
3. Take responsibility for our obligations to our customers.
4. Work with law enforcement authorities.

He also informed the subcommittee of the following:

• Sony has been the victim of a very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber attack.
• We discovered that the intruders had planted a file on one of our Sony Online Entertainment servers named “Anonymous” with the words “We are Legion.”
• By April 25, forensic teams were able to confirm the scope of the personal data they believed had been taken, and could not rule out whether credit card information had been accessed. On April 26, we notified customers of those facts.
• As of today, the major credit card companies have not reported any fraudulent transactions that they believe are the direct result of this cyber attack.
• Protecting individuals’ personal data is the highest priority and ensuring that the Internet can be made secure for commerce is also essential. Worldwide, countries and businesses will have to come together to ensure the safety of commerce over the Internet and find ways to combat cyber crime and cyber terrorism.
• We are taking a number of steps to prevent future breaches, including enhanced levels of data protection and encryption; enhanced ability to detect software intrusions, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns; additional firewalls; establishment of a new data center in an undisclosed location with increased security; and the naming of a new Chief Information Security Officer.

We told the subcommittee about our intent to offer complimentary identity theft protection to U.S. account holders and detailed the “Welcome Back” program that includes free downloads, 30 days of free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium subscription service; 30 days of free service for Music Unlimited subscribers; and extending PlayStation Plus and Music Unlimited subscriptions for the number of days services were unavailable.

Full post at the PSBlog.

Here is the scanned letter by Mr. Kazuo Hirai (must read): (Click Here)

In response to the above letter, Anonymous denies any involvement in the attack: (Click Here)

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Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Network Entertainment International has released an important blog post detailing their plans of PSN/Qriosity restoration this week (including restoration of online gaming! but excluding the PSStore), implementations of enhanced security, a “Welcome Back” programme, as well as complimentary offerings such as 30 days free PS-Plus subscription to all PSN/PS-Plus users and selected free downloads with further offerings to come as the PSN is gradually restored.

Here is a snippet of the article that you can read at the PSBlog:

SOME PLAYSTATION®NETWORK AND QRIOCITY™ SERVICES TO BE AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Phased Global Rollout of Services to Begin Regionally;
System Security Enhanced to Provide Greater Protection of Personal Information

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.

To all PSN users, make sure to follow news of an exact date of PSN restoration so as to immediately take steps to change your login password, which will be forced upon the user on sign-in.

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Sony has posted another update about the recent PSN outage answering some more burning questions. This time the Q&A is more gaming related:

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.

[Source: PSBlog]

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Sony released some more information today at the PS.Blog. :
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/27/qa-1-for-playstation-network-and-qriocity-services/

Despite conflicting reports in the media world that Credit Card numbers were actually stolen, Sony eases the worry by telling us that
Credit Card numbers were encrypted.If  the culprit had accessed the credit card numbers, he’s have to decrpyt them which is not an easy task or in some cases, impossible. Additionally CC security codes were NOT stored on PSN. Therefore in the event someone accessed the card number, they’d still need to access that security code to use it.
So theoretically Credit Cards are safe.

Yes law enforcement is hunting down the culprit.

A Firmware update will be coming for users to CHANGE passwords on attempt to sign in.

Sony is moving their entire data center to a new location. New network infrastructure. New security code for the PlayStation Network.

PSN is expected to be up by next week Monday, though the scale of improvements and investigations taking place, might have a knock on effect delaying PSN access for even more time.

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Sony has come clean on what has happened to it’s PlayStation Network  which can be read at the following link:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/26/update-on-playstation-network-and-qriocity/

In a nutshell it is believed that a hacker or group of hackers have obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password 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

What does this mean for you?

Simply, if someone has seen your email address and PSN password. You have every reason to be worried.
Any website or service that you use including Facebook, MSN, Steam, Xbox Live etc.,  that you use the SAME email address and password as your PSN account have been compromised.

It is advised. No not advised. You MUST change the password of all services you use that share the same email address.
Pretty much anywhere you’ve used your PSN password, go change it NOW.
Change your email address password also.If you’re one of the few people that entered Credit Card information on PSN, please monitor your Credit Card statements for any unauthorised usage of your card. Also be prepared to suspend/change your Credit Card if you wish to take a safer step forward.

Sony has also mentioned that they have an end game in sight where PSN services should be restored within a week.
We at PSNTT regret to pass this information onto you, but better safe than sorry.
Go change those passwords now. We remind you to choose creative passwords including CaPitAliZatioN, Pun(tuat!0n and Num3r1caL Characters.

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