For PlayStation 3 owners out there, you may be wondering why you cannot get online. A representative from Sony Entertainment announced in a press release on April 26, 2011 that the PlayStation Network (PSN) has been shut down indefinitely due to an attack from outside the network. The attack occurred on April 19, 2011. Loads of users began reporting to Sony that their PS3's would not sign on to the internet. Upon inquiry into the matter, Sony discovered an intrusion from an outside source. Sony immediately shut down the network. As users came home for their evening online gaming activities, they were greeted with a message informing them that "Network is down due to maintenance". It has been over a week and still the network is not up and running, leaving online gaming and the PlayStation store inaccessible.
Until the recent update from Sony, users were left in the dark as to the cause of the PSN meltdown. According to a CNET.com report, Sony hired an outside network security firm to investigate the extent of the intrusion and the damage caused. They did not want to release any information to the public until the investigation had provided substantial evidence on the matter. After a weeks long investigation, the security firm notified Sony that the PSN had been hacked severely and that over 77 million user's data had been stolen. This means personal information, email address, and even credit card information. Sony is encouraging all PlayStation users who have an online ID to closely monitor credit cards and bank accounts for any unsanctioned transactions.
This attack marks one of the largest network attacks in history. Some suspect the well known hacker group Anonymous to be behind the attack, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. The hard shut down of the network by Sony has left it in shambles. Sony states on the official PlayStation blog that they are having to completely rebuild the network and that it will be down for at least another week.
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| Protesters outside Sony Computer Entertainment America headquarters |
The wake of this attack has left Sony with a PR nightmare on their hands. The shutdown of the network and comprised security of users personal information has people outraged. Already multiple lawsuits by PlayStation owners have been filed against the company for negligence and violation of privacy agreements. One lawsuit by a man in Alabama claims that Sony should have had proper security measures in place to prevent such an attack and the failure to do so has left him and other users at risk of credit and identity fraud. Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote to Sony Computer Entertainment America President, Jack Tretton, and expressed concern over Sony's reaction time in notifying customers and asked that Sony provide all users with two years of credit services.
Sony could face many multi-million dollar law suits if they are found to have knowingly withheld information from customers as to the severity of the damage caused by the hackers. The negligence lawsuit would be deemed justifiable due to the fact that Sony failed to properly and promptly notify customers that their personal and credit information had been stolen, thus preventing people from taking proper measures to insure their assets.
We could already be seeing the first remnants of the attack taking place. As reported by ABC News, a PlayStation user recently reported that he had over $2000 dollars of charges on his credit card. Like most users, he uses his credit card to pay for down-loadable content and other services on the PSN. Ron Spreckley said, "I logged into my bank account just to check everything was OK and I found out there was some just over $2,000 in charges which I didn't personally accrue."
So what should PSN users do to protect themselves? Canceling credit cards and changing bank accounts is a bit extreme at this point. The threat of having your information stolen is minimal due the magnitude of the information obtained by the hackers. The most important step is to change all passwords that contain the same one used to log into the PSN. Secondly, always monitor bank account activity to insure no one is using your money without your permission.
Once the PlayStation Network is back up running and all lingering after shocks of the meltdown have been quenched, it is estimated Sony could lose $10 to $20 billion. Already Sony has announced it will provide all users with a free 2 week subscription to Hulu Plus, a service that allows PlayStation users to watch television shows on their PS3's. Costumers are calling for Sony to do more to compensate them for the security breach and loss of precious online gaming time by giving a credit for one free game from the PlayStation Store.
Sources: IGN.com, CNET.com, PCmag.com, ABCnews.com
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