[faq][copy + paste] psn faq [released by sony]

[Jo$h]

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PSN/Qriocity Network Outage FAQs
1. When did the PSN/Qriocity become unavailable?
PSN/Qriocity services have not been available since April 20 (US time) in all regions.

2. Why did the PSN/Qriocity become unavailable?
An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services.

3. Why was Sony not prepared for a compromise of its network?
We are currently conducting a thorough investigation of the situation. Since this is an overall security related issue, we cannot comment further at this time.

4. Is the attack by “Anonymous” or another party?
We are currently conducting a thorough investigation of the situation. Since this is an overall security related issue, we cannot comment further at this time.

5. Why is it taking so long to restore network services?
As soon as we learned of this issue, we temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services in order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services. 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.

6. How serious is this compromise? How will Sony prevent this from happening again?
Because there is an on-going investigation we cannot comment further at this time, but we are working to restore and maintain and strengthen the services, including incorporating additional countermeasures to ward against future intrusions.

7. When will service be restored?
We have a clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online, and expect to restore some services within a week.
We will keep the service down to allow us to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure smooth operation of our network services when they return; we are working hard to resume the services as soon as we can be reasonably assured our security concerns have been addressed.

8. Did SOE experience an attack due to the same reason?
SOE’s services are currently available, but they did experience a service interruption due to an external attack. An investigation is ongoing.

9. Have you had such a long PSN/Qriocity service termination like this one in the past?
No.

10. Does PSN/Qriocity get attacked very often?
We cannot make any comments regarding this matter at this time.

11. I want my money back (subscription fee, content) since the PSN/Qriocity was not available.
While we are still assessing the impact of this incident, we recognize that this may have had financial impact on our loyal customers. We are currently reviewing options and will update you when the service is restored.

12. There seems to be some games that cannot be played even offline?
Some games may require access to PSN for trophy sync, security checks or other network functionality and therefore cannot be played offline.

13. Why are Sony Online Entertainment services available while PSN and Qriocity are still down and you (SCE/Sony) are not able to even tell us when it will come back again?
As our investigation in this matter is ongoing, we cannot comment further on this matter.

14. What personally identifying information do you suspect has been compromised?
Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information provided by PlayStation Network/Qriocity account holders: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birth date, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password, login, and handle/PSN online ID. Other profile data may also have been obtained, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip). If an account holder has authorized a sub-account for a dependent, the same data with respect to that dependent may have been obtained. If an account holder provided credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, it is possible that the credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may also have been obtained.

15. How will I know if my personal information has been compromised?
We have provided notices to consumers at the email addresses associated with their PlayStation Network/Qriocity accounts. You may also visit

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and

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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. To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant to review your credit card account statements and to monitor your credit reports.

16. What steps have you taken to investigate this compromise?
We have engaged an outside, recognized security firm to investigate this incident and to assist us in our ongoing efforts to protect your personally identifiable information.

17. I got an email from you asking for my PSN/Qriocity sign-in ID and password. Is it really you asking for this 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.

18. What should I do to avoid having my personal information compromised?
For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, postal mail or other 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. Additionally, if you use the same user name or password for your PlayStation Network or Qriocity service account for other

19. Why did Sony wait until now to tell PSN users that their personal information may have been compromised?
The nature of the intrusion required that we undertake an extensive and thorough investigation of the matter, which took considerable effort and time. We needed to make sure that we knew and understood the facts before providing the appropriate notice to PlayStation Network users.

 

[Deion]

Mhm, Just read mostly all of it. I never knew there was a prob with Sony since some said something was wrong with it on the forums is the last days. I'd like to know more facts about this? Anyone know anymore interesting things, or facts about this subject, from anyone here.

 

[Bazinga]

Sony has warned users of its PlayStation Network that their personal information, including credit card details, may have been stolen.
The company said that the data might have fallen into the hands of an "unauthorised person" following a hacking attack on its online service.
Access to the network was suspended last Wednesday, but Sony has only now revealed details of what happened.
Users are being warned to look out for attempted telephone and e-mail scams.
In a statement

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, Nick Caplin, the company's head of communications for Europe, said: "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".
The blog posting lists the personal information that Sony believes has been taken.

• Name
• Address (city, state/province, zip or postal code)
• Country
• E-mail address
• Date of birth
• PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and login
• Handle/PSN online ID

Mr Caplin added: "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.
"For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information."

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Credit cards Sony admitted that credit card information, used to purchase games, films and music, may also have been stolen.
"While there is no evidence that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility," Mr Caplin said.
"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."
Sony has not given any indication of how many PlayStation Network users may have had their information taken, but the service has around 77 million members worldwide.
Investigation The UK's information commissioner, Christopher Graham, said that his organisation had already begun investigating the Sony hack.
He told BBC Radio 4's "You and Yours" programme, that it looked like "a very significant breach of data protection law".
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has the power to impose fines of up to £500,000.

"We are already investigating what looks like a very significant breach of data protection law.”
​

Christopher Graham UK Information Commissioner
However, Mr Graham stressed that his ability to take action would ultimately depend on whether data from the PlayStation Network was stored in the UK - something he was still trying to establish.
"It if turns out that it is our responsibility here in the UK, we would ask 'were the security measures appropriate'," he added.
'PR Disaster' The theft of so much detailed customer data would be seen as a "public relations disaster", according to Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos.
"This is a big one," he told BBC News.
"The PlayStation Network is a real consumer product. It is in lots of homes all over the world.
"The impact of this could be much greater than your typical internet hack."
Mr Cluley warned that, even without credit card details, the information taken was enough to help criminals carry out further attacks on other services.
"Some people will use the same passwords on other sites. If I was a hacker right now, I would be taking those e-mail addresses and trying those passwords," he said.
Some streaming media services available on PlayStation have been affected by the outage
PlayStation users got their first indication that something was wrong with the service when it became unavailable on Wednesday 20 April.
In the following days, Sony issued three brief statements asking users to be patient while it investigated an "external intrusion", or hack.
However, the fact that it took almost seven days for the company to reveal that data had been taken has angered some gamers.
Commenting on the Sony blog, Tacotaskforce wrote: "You waited a week to tell us our personal information was compromised? That should have been said last Thursday."
Another user Sid4peeps wrote: "This update is about 6 days late. I think it is time to move to the other network, no regard for customers here."
But some PlayStation users appeared to be happy with Sony's handling of the matter. Ejsponge61 commented: "Wow, this is alot of info. Thanks, this is very much appreciated by all of us PlayStation fans."
The Sony PlayStation Network remains unavailable to users. The company has not said when service will be restored.

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I'm so glad I don't have a PS3 or PSN membership..