Since our last chat, Sony’s come clean. The PlayStation Network (PSN) outage, later classified as a response to an “external intrusion,” was a full on security breach — resulting in just about all our personal information taken:
We believe that an unauthorized person has 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 may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility.
With something like 70 million customers, the scale of the compromise is obviously quite large. Both governments and individuals alike have taken notice of what appears to be insufficient protection and a leisurely response by Sony. Reinforced by the two email messages I received from Sony about ten days after the breach, neither of which mentioned bringing law enforcement in to assist their investigation.
Well, it’s a new week… Sony’s finally reached out (to the FBI) for help and indicates that PSN will be be back online within a matter of days. Perhaps as early as tomorrow.
Some PlayStation Network and Qriocity Services to be Available This Week. 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.
Once PSN is up, Sony will provide members with free access to PlayStation Plus, including unspecified content downloads, for 30 days in what they’re calling the “Welcome Back” appreciation program. Ironic, no?