Hey guys, Steven here. So unless you have been living under a rock, you probably have been hearing how there has been some huge headlines regarding the security breach to Sony's Playstation online network, the PSN.
The PSN, which was launch in 2006, is a free online service provided to Playstation 3 console owners which allows them play games online, buy and download video games directly onto their console, stream music and watch movies via Netflix.
However, around 2 weeks ago (17-19th April) the PSN went down and as a result none of the users were able to access their accounts or their online games and media. Initially this caused some minor annoyances to its users, especially because of the fact that it was Easter holidays, but nothing too serious precipitated as network failures do happen occasionally.
But as the outage continued, eventually Sony admitted that the network failure was due to an outside third party hacking into the system, and it was suggested that user's account information may have been compromised, including credit card information.
And recently, Sony has admitted that the user's personal data did not have any encryptions, meaning that information such as names, addresses, email addresses, birth dates, usernames, passwords, logins and security questions of more than 70 million of its members have potentially been accessed by hackers.
However, Sony has insisted that its credit card data was fully encrypted, and that there has been no evidence to suggest that any credit card information was stolen.
Regardless, the network still remains down, with Sony expecting the service to be restored by next Wednesday. If you guys want to find out more about that I've put a link in the description box down below for Sony's Q&A on the matter:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/04/27/qa-1-for-playstation-network-and-qriocity-services/
But it is likely that this event would cost Sony dearly both financially and in terms of its reputation. There has already been class action law suits filed against Sony over the breach. And should Sony be found liable for the incident, they could face up to $24 billion in compensations to its 77 million users world-wide.
Now in the mean time, my suggestion is if you have PS3 and a PSN account that you at least change the password to which ever account that shares the same password with your PSN one. And that includes credit card accounts as well. Secondly, should you ever be contacted by a company which claims to be Sony for your username, password, logins, or any other details, immediately assume that it's a fake. Call or email the main office to make sure. Just to be on the safe side.
So to summarise that off, the PSN service is still currently down due to a security breach which occurred 2 weeks ago, by hackers. It won't be up until probably next Wednesday. The personal details of PSN users was most likely compromised. So to stay on the safe side, just change the password for any accounts which share the same password.
I'm interested to hear what you guys think about all this. So please leave a comment down below. That's all from me for today. And I will see you guys next time.
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