Sony's PSN Attacked Again! 93,000 Accounts Compromised!

[Detective Shadzter]

My console's working now, but I can't get on PSN. It's under maintenance again.

I know people are saying it's down, but I'm currently online playing portal 2. My friends list is also quite active.

I think it's the situation that happens with normal scheduled maintenance, in that if you're online before they close access, then you can stay on as long as your PS3/PSP's on.

Comment from EU PS Twitter:

Please bear with us as we continue working on #PSN restoration. We are experiencing extremely heavy traffic.

13 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone

http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/69870096486641664

U.S. users are also reporting that it's down:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/14/play-on-%E2%80%93-psn-restoration-begins-now/comment-page-52/#comments

[Scar]

Understandable. The servers must be shitting themselves right now.

There must be an influx of people.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Scar

[Detective Shadzter]

It's back online now. I've just signed in again.

EDIT:

Comment from EU PS Twitter on the brief outage

The UK, Ireland and the Middle East are all now back online. Other countries to follow soon #PSN

3 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone

http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/69879534601781248

[Tornado]

I signed in earlier today. Most of GT5's online functions are working, but not all of them.

[Detective Shadzter]

#PSN services have also been restored in the rest of Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and South America.

13 minutes ago

http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/69888640544813057

[Conando]

Can't even fucking change my password because it keeps saying "an error has occurred".

[Detective Shadzter]

Posted on 16 May by Nick Caplin – Head of Communications, SCEE

Email Password Reset Notice

Some of you have mentioned that you have not received your password reset emails. With the huge number of people coming back online at the same time and resetting their passwords, it is creating significant email traffic to ISPs. The consequence is that some of the ISPs are throttling the emails.

We are currently trying to resolve this, but in the meantime please be patient and refrain from submitting multiple requests. You will receive you reset email and be able to get back to enjoying your online gaming.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/05/16/email-password-reset-notice/

[Dummy Bear]

Can't even fucking change my password because it keeps saying "an error has occurred".

Try checking you e-mail. There should be an e-mail with a link to change your passwrod from your PC.

[Conando]

Nyet. I'll just have to wait this out.

[Detective Shadzter]

Welcome Back Program details delayed until tomorrow

Posted on 16 May, 2011 at 1:28 am by Nick Caplin

Apologies guys, but it looks like there has been a slight delay in finalising the welcome back programme and it should be tomorrow when we can share the details with you.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/05/16/email-password-reset-notice/#comments

[Sega DogTagz]

I’m gonna wait a few days for server activity to die down back to normal levels before I start screwing with this stuff.

Nice that PSN is back up though.

[Detective Shadzter]

I can't sign in. It's saying it's under maintenance again.

Update on Service Restoration Rollout

+ Posted by Patrick Seybold // Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media

We’re currently experiencing an extremely heavy load of password resets, and so we recently had to turn off services for approximately 30 minutes to clear the queue.

As such, a large number of people are attempting to change their passwords at the same time, it’s taking longer than expected for all those emails to clear all of the ISPs.

If you’ve requested your password reset, please give it a bit of time to reach your email. Thanks for your patience as we work to get everyone back online.

[GameFarnsworth940]

Just changed my password, all set. I think I'll play some Portable Ops + on infrastructure to celebrate lol.

Wait, does MGS PO+ still have infrastructure support? Not sure if it's still up because of Peace Walker. No infrastructure without Adhoc Party, I know, but PO+ is old, and PW was just last year.

[Glenn]

Yeah, definitely going to wait a few days before I sort mine out. I was hoping people would be sensible, as all logging back on at the same time can't be good for the servers. That said, congratulations to everybody getting back online with their consoles, and applause for Sony.

[Agent York]

I don't believe there has been any word on the two out of five games deal we're supposed to get. Hope they comment on that soon, that for some reason has me curious. It's free I mean. >_>

[Detective Shadzter]

I don't believe there has been any word on the two out of five games deal we're supposed to get. Hope they comment on that soon, that for some reason has me curious. It's free I mean. >_>

[Tobbii]

Well the store is still down, I guess it'll come at the same time.

[Carbo]

Sony just sent me a mail notifying me about the PSN restoration and the Welcome Back program. The offers that your country will supply will be available here once it's done.

[Detective Shadzter]

Sony not allowed to turn PSN on in Japan

Have a Japanese PSN account? Noticed you haven't been able to access it, despite being able to access US and European accounts? There's a reason.

Japanese authorities have halted Sony's attempt to turn PSN on in its homeland because it believes promised security countermeasures are "incomplete".

"We met with Sony on 6th May and 13th, and basically we want two things from them," Kazushige Nobutani, director of the Media and Content Industry department at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told Dow Jones Newswires.

"The first is preventative measures. As of 13th May, Sony was incomplete in exercising measures that they said they will do on the 1st May press conference."

Exactly what the preventative measures are remain a secret for security reasons.

The second demand is said to revolve around how Sony hopes to regain consumer confidence over personal data, such as credit card information.

Is the Japanese government simply being overly cautious, or should our government have imposed a similar restriction?

"There were similar cases in the past that were caused by other firms, and we are asking Sony whether their measures are good enough when compared to countermeasures taken in the past," Nobutani continued.

PSN had been offline since 20th April following the security breach that left personal information tied to some 77 million user accounts compromised and the details of around 12.3 million credit card possibly stolen.

In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office, the independent watchdog set up to make sure companies adequately protect our data, is in talks with Sony to determine whether the Japanese company was in breach of the Data Protection Act. If found guilty it faces a fine of up to half a million pounds.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-16-sony-not-allowed-to-turn-psn-on-in-japan

PSN FAQ – Restoration Questions Answered

Now that PlayStation Network is once again operational, a great many of you are once again enjoying playing games online. Of course, that’s only part of the Network’s offerings – and you’ve got some questions about how the downtime affected planned releases and online events. Here are answers to some of the more pressing queries:

If you’ve got a PSN-related question that remains to be answered, please ask below, and we’ll do our best to answer.

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/05/16/psn-faq-restoration-questions-answered/

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/16/psn-faq-restoration-questions-answered/

[Badnik Mechanic]

Q: I’m having trouble changing my password/I forgot which email I used on my account/I used a fake email to set up my account.

Hu-hu-hur... hahahaahaha.... Ne-aarrghh-hahahahahah.

Thats because so many of us signed up with different regions so we could get other stuff! Thats why it's their second most asked question! XD

Edited May 16, 2011 by Hogfather

[Tornado]

I do love that they actually put that in the FAQ.

[GameFarnsworth940]

I'll be honest, I'm hoping that we do get those 2 of 5 free PS3 games and 2 of 4 free PSP games. I hope that if they do that option for the US that the choices aren't just Dicidia 012, FFIV, and two others (because I just paid for those lol), mainly for the fact my options would be limited to whatever 2 games are left. Who knows if I'll like those.

Of course, selfish me is being selfish.

[Carbo]

The Welcome Back Programme for SCEE Users has been revealed.

Now that certain PSN services have been restored and you’re once again enjoying online gaming, it seems a good time to confirm what is being offered as part of the Welcome Back programme.

Once we restore PlayStation Store, which will be just a little while longer, you will have the opportunity to claim your Welcome Back gifts. Please note that the Welcome Back programme is only available for those countries with access to PlayStation Store*.

All existing PlayStation Network members will be able to access the following from PlayStation Store*:

Two PS3 games from the following list:

• LittleBigPlanet
  
• Infamous*
  
• Wipeout HD/Fury
  
• Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty
  
• Dead Nation*
  
  
  For those with PSP accounts, you will also be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list:
  

  • LittleBigPlanet PSP
    
  • ModNation PSP
    
  • Pursuit Force
    
  • Killzone Liberation*
    

  - 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PS Plus subscribers*

  - Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will be given 60 days free subscription.

  - For existing Music Unlimited subscribers, you will be given 30 days free subscription.

  - We are working on a Welcome Back offer in PlayStation Home and will share that when it is confirmed.

  I would like to thank all of the developers and publishers involved in this programme for their support in making this happen. We certainly couldn’t have done it without you.

  You will be able to access this content once PlayStation Store comes back online and we are doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible.

  Thank you for your support and keep checking back on the blog for more information.

  For eligibility for the welcome back programme consumers must be an account holder on 20 April 2011. Specific details about these offers and eligibility requirements will be posted as the

  services go live. All existing PSN registrants have 30 days from when the welcome back programme goes live to redeem their content.

  For the German market, InFamous and Dead Nation will be replace with Super Stardust HD and Hustle Kings in the selection of PS3 games.

  For the German market, Pursuit Force and Killzone Liberation will be replaced with Everybody’s Golf 2 and Buzz Junior Jungle Party in the selection of PSP games. Killzone Liberation will not offer online gameplay functionality.

  Access to the 30 days free PS Plus subscription is only available for those countries where PS Plus is offered. You will have access to the PS Plus content planned for May for 30 days.

  Access to the free games and exclusive features finishes at the end of the 30-day subscription period. Anything you buy with exclusive discounts, dynamic themes and premium avatars are yours to keep forever.

  EDIT: Wait hold on, so if I understood this right the games we get are also only 30 day demos or whatever?

Edited May 16, 2011 by Carbo

[Tornado]

Isn't Wipeout HD the one that is basically Wipeout Pulse, but in HD?

[Scar]

The Welcome Back Programme for SCEE Users has been revealed.

EDIT: Wait hold on, so if I understood this right the games we get are also only 30 day demos or whatever?

I think thats for free stuff you get from PSN plus