Updated on May 10th
Sony has reported that the online services will most likely remain down for the next few days, and may not be entirely restored until the end of the month. The company is still working around the clock in efforts to bring the new systems online, but at this point everyone is frustrated with the progress. The outage officially hits the 3-week mark tomorrow and there doesn't seem to be a lot of good news circulating. A few websites have reported other security breaches occurring over the last few days but the details are highly speculative. The bad news is that new releases such as Brink, Portal 2, and SOCOM 4 rely heavily on online connectivity and as a result have suffered in sales on the PS3 because of the attack. It's unfortunate that consumers are being directly affected but it's an important lesson for Sony and proves that nothing is off-limits when dealing with hackers.
Sony has officially confirmed numerous improvements to the systems' infrastructure in order to prevent this from happening again. Some of the changes include:
- 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
In addition to the added security measures, Sony is moving the system to a new data center location at another facility that has been under construction for several months. PS3 users will be required to change their account passwords via update in order to use the services again. This action must be performed on the console in which the account was activated, or through a valid email confirmation (if you have switched consoles). This serves as the first critical step in protecting customer data. Sony thanks its customers for their patience and understanding and states that an ongoing investigation to the root of the invasion is still ongoing. In the mean time, a portion of the online services, for both PS3 and PSP, will be restored starting this week, finally.
- 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
In addition to the services coming online, the company is also implementing a “Welcome Back” program which will allow users to have free access to premium and special content. More information on this program will be released soon, but it has been confirmed that a 30-day free subscription to PSN+ (current users score a free 30 days as well) and Music Unlimited is in the works. This comes as a “thank you” from Sony to their customers and will test the strengthened security of the new systems when they become live again.