The Sony Playstation Network Outage Updates

Share on Facebook posted 05-02-11 by Angelo D'Argenio

News keeps coming in on the Sony front. The PSN still isn’t up, but more developments in the case of what may be the largest identity theft in history keep popping up. Here are some news stories that managed to make headlines over the weekend.

Sony Considering Compensating PSN Subscribers

Sony had previously said that it would somehow provide compensation for PSN users that subscribe to paid services such as MMOs like D.C. Universe Online and Free Realms. However, we never really thought that Sony would pitch in some sort of compensation for the rest of us freeloaders. According to the Playstation Blog, Sony is “currently evaluating ways to show appreciation for your extraordinary patience as we work to get these services back online.” So we can probably expect some kind of present when the network comes back up. Probably won’t make up for having our information stolen though.

FBI Joins Playstation Network Investigation

Government agencies all over the world have been joining the investigation of Playstation Network breach. Now, our very own FBI is joining in as well. The FBI cybercrimes unit is currently looking into the matter and is reviewing all the information available regarding the “alleged” criminal activity. They have also contacted the Federal Trade Commission, as it could actually have jurisdiction on a case involving loss of customer data, though that will all depend on the circumstances surrounding the security breach. Joining the FBI, are attorneys general from 22 states, most of which are questioning Sony’s failure to notify PSN users of a large scale security breach.

Anonymous Condemns PSN Attacks

Just to clarify that they most certainly weren’t behind the PSN attacks, internet activist group Anonymous talked with Console Monster about their position on the recent security breach. Anonymous representative said, “No matter who did it, this action is against the Anonymous principles, so it wasn’t an Anonymous attack, it just was an attack to get private data. That’s not Anonymous, that’s just a crime to make money.” They also went on to say that Anonymous most likely won’t attack the PSN in the future. “No, i don’t think that someone related to anon will attack them in the future, they already stopped the anonymous cyber-attacks against Sony in the past and instead they demonstrate in real life.”

Rebug Not the Cause of PSN Security Breach

Early reports said that a tool called Rebug, a custom firmware that attempted to give development kit functionality to retail PS3’s, was the culprit behind the PSN breach. Recently, the team behind Rebug talked with G4 saying that there is no possible way that Rebug could have allowed that sort of access to the PSN. “Thanks to irresponsible media outlets and scene members a few different rumors have been started that have no truth.” They then went on to say that whoever did this used something “more serious than Rebug.” They even admitted that “the holes that certain Rebug users are getting through could quite easily be fixed without downing an entire network both for developers and retail users worldwide.”

PS3 Trophies and Friend Lists Are Unaffected By Outage

Sony has said today that the data within their system hasn’t actually been tampered with, just seen. So people’s trophies, friends lists, and cloud saves will all be perfectly intact when the network comes back up.

2.2 Million PSN Account’s Credit Card Details Are Being Sold

Kevin Stevens, a security expert with TrendMicro, says that the credit card details of over 2.2 million PSN account holders are being sold across internet forums. Supposedly, several sellers are claiming to be in possession of credit card details including the CVV2 numbers that Sony apparently doesn’t store in their databases. It’s possible that these offers are fake, but that would make them a fraud of a fraud. A meta-fraud if you will.

One Man Reports PSN Related Credit Card Fraud

One Australian man has come forward saying that he lost over $2000 in credit card charges this week. Being that it coincided with the PSN service outage, and that he was a PSN customer, he believes it is due to the PSN security breach. He would be the first example of credit card fraud we have seen as a result of the PSN outage.

Australian Wants Laws to Prevent Sony’s Slow Response

Security experts in Australian are calling for laws to be enacted which force companies to disclose when an information security breach has occurred in a prompt fashion. Mark Gregory of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology describes it as “A disclosure law that would require a company to contact and inform customers within one day or two days of the event occurring so that those customers can take action to cancel credit cards or change passwords or other private information and also to be aware that their information has actually been stolen.” Sony is currently under investigation in Australia, for possibly not following security protocols when establishing the PSN.