PSN most stores back and the Welcome Back Pack

Aston Martin

Aston Martin

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Sony has finally announced some details.

SOME PLAYSTATION?NETWORK AND QRIOCITY? SERVICES TO BE AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Phased Global Rollout of Services to Begin Regionally;
System Security Enhanced to Provide Greater Protection of Personal Information

Tokyo, May 1, 2011 ? Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) announced they will shortly begin a phased restoration by region of PlayStation?Network and Qriocity? services, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company also announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program to thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.

Following a criminal cyber-attack on the company?s data-center located in San Diego, California, U.S.A., SNEI quickly turned off the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, engaged multiple expert information security firms over the course of several days and conducted an extensive audit of the system. Since then, the company has implemented a variety of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information. SNEI and its third-party experts have conducted extensive tests to verify the security strength of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. With these measures in place, SCE and SNEI plan to start a phased rollout by region of the services shortly. 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
-This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
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
Working closely with several outside security firms, the company has implemented significant security measures to further detect unauthorized activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information. The company is also creating the position of Chief Information Security Officer, directly reporting to Shinji Hasejima, Chief Information Officer of Sony Corporation, to add a new position of expertise in and accountability for customer data protection and supplement existing information security personnel. The new security measures implemented include, but are not limited to, the following:

Added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks
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
The company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months. In addition, PS3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

The company is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion.

?This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers? information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks,? said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. ?Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.?

Complimentary Offering and ?Welcome Back? Appreciation Program
While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, the company is committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in each region.

The company will also rollout the PlayStation Network and Qriocity ?Welcome Back? program, to be offered worldwide, which will be tailored to specific markets to provide our consumers with a selection of service options and premium content as an expression of the company?s appreciation for their patience, support and continued loyalty.

Central components of the ?Welcome Back? program will include:

Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.
All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.
Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service. Additional ?Welcome Back? entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

SNEI will continue to reinforce and verify security for transactions before resuming the PlayStation?Store and other Qriocity operations, scheduled for this month.
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Linky

Not gonna complain over any of it, but whats the chances the free PSN Plus is a bad content month? :lol:
 
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"That password can be changed only on the same PS3 that activated the account"
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What if you're on your second PS3?

We're back on in Japan.
 
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It's still not up in Europe, but I no longer get the 'maintenance message.' I get the older 'error has occurred'

It's supposed to be back tomorrow, i'm hoping it's sooner.
 
Aston Martin said:
What if you're on your second PS3?

We're back on in Japan.
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Where did you read this? Because I talked to a couple people living in Japan and they confirmed that it did NOT work.

Aston Martin said:
It's still not up in Europe, but I no longer get the 'maintenance message.' I get the older 'error has occurred'

It's supposed to be back tomorrow, i'm hoping it's sooner.
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Sony said this? I don't think they did. It's possible, but I wouldn't bet my marbles on it nor going around wording it that way.
 
Aston Martin said:
http://www.product-reviews.net/2011...tatus-japan-is-live-possible-dates-for-us-uk/
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Okay, let's go through this astounding article:

We have some good news for those of you who are asking when will the psn will be back up, as it looks like Sony are now delivering on their promise to bring the PlayStation Network back online this week, as reports are suggesting that service has already resumed in Japan.
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Speculation.

Sony hasn?t confirmed this yet, but there are already a collection of Twitter, and Facebook status updates saying that online play on the PS3 is now back to normal for Japanese gamers ? head to this page to see for yourself.
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Oh hey look, more speculation. Twitter and Facebook are not sources.

Unfortunately though, we can?t say the same for US and other gamers around the world, as we can confirm that the service is still unavailable. However, according to previous Sony estimates, the service should be back online by tomorrow, May 3rd. This has been clarified in this article over at IGN.
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Previous estimates? Uh...why would you go by that and not current estimates? Current estimates is within a week, not two days. Should we go by the previous, previous estimates of two days when it initially happened? It should be up April 22 by previous estimates.

IGN...haha, that's journalistic integrity right there.

It?s a shame Sony didn?t give us an official date, but maybe there?s still a few major problems that need to be fixed up during this week first. Obviously we?re hoping this isn?t the case though and the PSN does indeed come online again at some point tomorrow.
How many of you are predicting it will be back on May 3rd, and how many of you have heard otherwise? Are you dying to get back into Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat? Either way, we?ll soon know if it finally comes back online tomorrow.
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So, once again, everything is complete speculation and rumors. Nothing official at all. Which do you believe, a random article about PSN or people who live there saying it doesn't work?

It may be up tomorrow, but there's no point in telling everyone it is and spreading that around when it may not be. As hard as it is, just wait and when it's up, it's up. If information isn't on Sony's site or blog, then I would be cautious to take any of it seriously.
 
lol playstation
 
Sony's letter to US Congress.


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You REALLY had to quote the whole thing?
 
So it seems the Xbox is really benefiting from this. Future Shop and Best Buy both had the 4GB 360 on sale for $130 (down from $200) this week. I personally know of several people that have jumped ship and bought it. Some even went so far as to put their PS3's on sale when they did. Yes they are all high schoolers with 0 patience, but that doesn't change the fact that it's really playing into Microsoft's favour.
 
Highlighted the 'key points' the DDOS attacks and 'Annoymous' allegedly taking down SOE.

..........................

The basics of PSN was due back yesterday, this was before the SOE attack though. We're still in the dark and no mention of when we're back up.
 
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That was actually quite an interesting read, with lots of information. One does have to wonder if Anonymous carried out the theft themselves/conspired with the thief, or if someone took advantage of their attack. Correct me if I'm wrong but mass identity theft doesn't fit their M.O.
 
i actually wouldn't be surprised if it turned out Sony did it themselves. now where's my tinfoil hat.
 
i don't know, just a random theory i had at one point. like i said. worthy of a tinfoil hat.
 
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