PSN Phasing Back Into Existence With Enhanced Security

[K4RN4GE911]

Only being an eighteen year old, I have yet to get a credit card. DLC was downloaded thanks to $20 prepaid cards which really help out. With the damn hackers doing their thrice-damned thing, all I had to worry about was my Email address, which I already rectified. I'm sticking with Sony on this. It wasn't partially their fault, and it loos like they decided to nut up instead of shutting up.

Plus, free stuff is always nice when there is hardly anything to worry about.

 

[Zer_]

Yeah, I'm sorry but not good enough by a long shot.

I called up the other day to cancel my cards that I could have used (since you could not actually log in and see what card you used, I had to cancel them all). That sadly included my debit card from my bank as well because I might have used that.

I wasn't that upset about the whole thing as I figured I'd get a new card in a few days and just use my wife's card till then.


Nope, they canceled ALL of our cards. I went out yesterday to go shopping for the weekend. I didn't even think about my wife's card not working because I didn't cancel it....so I went shopping and no dice on her card. I still didn't think it was a big deal, I'd just run over to the bank and get the temporary card they were talking about...no biggie right?

Nope, it was friday. I have had direct deposit for my checks for so long I forgot what fridays were like at a bank. I waited in line about 20 minutes and finally just gave up (wasn't even a 3rd of the way through the line). We ended up having reheated soup (Still good, but not exactly what I wanted for dinner last night!).

Today I went back to the bank and waited about 25 minutes all together to be seen. Got my temporary card (which only lets you spend 100$ a day) and some actual cash out of my bank. I also transfered all my excess cash into a secure savings account to be extra careful. I was finally able to go shopping and at least I have enough cash now to last till I get my regular card back at this point.

The entire experience has sucked though. Add to that the bank constantly trying to get me to sign up for "identity theft protection" for only 1$ (for the first 30 days and then $15.99 every month after that", the extreme annoyance of dealing with their dumb automated systems in the first place and well......I'm not giving Sony any of my credit card information ever again. I guess it was partially my fault for not keeping track of what card I used with them, but honestly I never thought such a large company would be compromised. I used to have a seperate credit card I only used for online purchases etc....but after so many years I ditched it. Perhaps I'll go back to doing that again just to be extra safe in the future.

No matter what a "free" month of PSN + (what does that ever really give you anyway...never even looked into it) is certainly not going to make up for all the frustration I've had over this.

Can't blame Sony for all if it. It is your bank's incompetence that just made it all worse for you. Still man, that's a real shitty series of events.

 

[AbstractStream]

Long as my information remains safe, I'll have no issue with PSN. A month of complimentary service for the worry and downtime seems fair.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

 

[diddykonger]

this is nice and all but I would like to have an exact day...cause I wanna get all my dlcs I lost when I sent in to get it fix

 

[BanthaFodder]

Good. They say that it'll be back by the end of May by the latest. I don't care how long it takes to get it back up, keeping my info safe and getting these neckbearded cunts behind bars should be the first priority, and it looks like Sony realises this. They seem to have realised how badly they handled this in the beginning and decided to man up and get some shit done.
Good job Sony, as long as you're doing all you can do. Just remember, I can wait to play Portal 2 online, my personal and financial info is a bit more important to me at the moment. Don't rush PSN back out of pressure, take your time and ensure everything is perfectly safe before that.

Edit: as for the free month of PS+, here's my plan:
1. get PS+
2. download every bit of free shit
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!

Once PS+ runs out you can no longer use free stuff, just thought I'd let you know...

yeah, but I can still get discounts and such. I remember them offering inFAMOUS for free or something whn PS+ first launched. it was available to non-members aswell (though they had to pay more), and idk if it restricts it since EVERYONE can get it. PS+ exclusive content, maybe, but.... eh, I guess I'll see sooner or later

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

So they installed Norton. Fantastic.

 

[IamSofaKingRaw]

Just in case people don't realise this regarding the free PS+

It's for a MONTH. After that it continues automatically. You have to manually set for it to not roll over.

I can see A LOT of people not realising this and ending up being charged for what is a 'free' thing.


Personally I woulda been happy with a £5 off voucher for anything in the store.

Aren't they just giving it to you for free. Meaning you don't need to have CC info to acquire it? They can't force me to buy anything if they can't get any money out of me.

 

[Baresark]

Hmmm, enhanced security..... Wonder how many legal users will get bit in the ass on this. I don't really care, I own my PS3, but I will not be purchasing any more Sony tech. And it's not because they were hacked, that could happen to anyone. It's really because the hack was most likely blowback from their policies and EULA.

It's like getting caught in the middle of someone else's firefight, neither side is your friend, and both sides are willing to shoot through you.

 

[Baresark]

If Sony's serious about this, I might just be able to download a copy of the Red Dead Undead thingy for free. If so, all is forgiven.

It was epic...very much so. I would say it almost makes rape forgivable....almost.

did i hear free Dead Money DLC?
I never really feared this as much as a lot of other ppl and i think this was actually quite well handled by Sony to make sure they had the info so everyone didnt lose there shit when this happened
good on ya Sony

Also most were blaming sony as if they had a hand in the theft of the stuff. Like the executives were going to be using their credit information to buy coffee makers.

Good. They say that it'll be back by the end of May by the latest. I don't care how long it takes to get it back up, keeping my info safe and getting these neckbearded cunts behind bars should be the first priority, and it looks like Sony realises this. They seem to have realised how badly they handled this in the beginning and decided to man up and get some shit done.
Good job Sony, as long as you're doing all you can do. Just remember, I can wait to play Portal 2 online, my personal and financial info is a bit more important to me at the moment. Don't rush PSN back out of pressure, take your time and ensure everything is perfectly safe before that.

Edit: as for the free month of PS+, here's my plan:
1. get PS+
2. download every bit of free shit
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!

Neckbearded cunts? Whats a neckbearded?

Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption

So... what? Are we storing the plain text user data as anagrams? That would be a bit of an improvement.

Everything i have read says that the information was encrypted. Don't know why it wouldn't be. There is no proof to verify that it wasn't encrypted either.

from Sony's press release:



Working closely with several outside security firms,

They can work as close as the want with the "best" security firm like the one that was gonna take down the hackers in the wikileaks issue but i dont think that is gonna help, the answer is to treat better the costumers, dont go making claims and sues to the paying costumers.

Work with the new tallent A.K.A. the hackers A.K.A. George hots, if there is people out there that can do a Ddos attack to PayPal, MasterCard, and Swiss bank PostFinance im sure they can take out a videogame company infrastructure

I may not be a genius but i remember like 90% of everything i read and everything i hear. And i remember reading about how to preform a DDoS attack all you have to do is download a program that comes whit instructions. So really any 12 year old that isn't illiterate can do it. I wouldn't think preforming a DDoS attack is very impressive.

I'm still iffy about whether to return or not, but I probably will. Just going to avoid buying anything with my card from now on and just get pre-paid for anything that's worth the trip to the store :s

As for the damage done, I'd say that Sony should have done this "enhanced security" BEFORE they went and got hacked. I don't expect a few bonuses tossed in to win everyone with half a brain back; a better way would be to get on their hands and knees and start begging for people not to leave them behind >.> Far as I'm concerned, it was THEIR fuck-up for not doing things right, and that's that, no matter who's fault it was.

Doesn't mean that I no longer want to see the cocksucker who now knows where I live (probably some guy in Peruvia or some obscure place like that) brought down. I most certainly do, but Sony can't just say "we're sorry, here's a cookie" and that just makes everything better by itself >.<

I don't see why so many people think it was sonys fault. If you make an unbreakable shield someone will make a sword that can break it. It will go on forever. They probably already had security and all that but someone got through it and that made them beef it up. And anyone with half a brain would know that the company involved isn't nearly as in the wrong as the people who stole the information int he first place.

People are angry because in a hack, it's not all or nothing. It's not "you get no data" or "you get fucking EVERYTHING. Usually hackers come out with an absolutely tiny portion of the data stored, and this hacker got WAY too much. The simple fact that the user data was stored in plaintext is unforgivable.

Haha, you are quite right, in this case, no one should be shook, because there is such a thing as a halfway crook.

 

[JDKJ]

If Sony's serious about this, I might just be able to download a copy of the Red Dead Undead thingy for free. If so, all is forgiven.

It was epic...very much so. I would say it almost makes rape forgivable....almost.

did i hear free Dead Money DLC?
I never really feared this as much as a lot of other ppl and i think this was actually quite well handled by Sony to make sure they had the info so everyone didnt lose there shit when this happened
good on ya Sony

Also most were blaming sony as if they had a hand in the theft of the stuff. Like the executives were going to be using their credit information to buy coffee makers.

Good. They say that it'll be back by the end of May by the latest. I don't care how long it takes to get it back up, keeping my info safe and getting these neckbearded cunts behind bars should be the first priority, and it looks like Sony realises this. They seem to have realised how badly they handled this in the beginning and decided to man up and get some shit done.
Good job Sony, as long as you're doing all you can do. Just remember, I can wait to play Portal 2 online, my personal and financial info is a bit more important to me at the moment. Don't rush PSN back out of pressure, take your time and ensure everything is perfectly safe before that.

Edit: as for the free month of PS+, here's my plan:
1. get PS+
2. download every bit of free shit
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!

Neckbearded cunts? Whats a neckbearded?

Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption

So... what? Are we storing the plain text user data as anagrams? That would be a bit of an improvement.

Everything i have read says that the information was encrypted. Don't know why it wouldn't be. There is no proof to verify that it wasn't encrypted either.

from Sony's press release:



Working closely with several outside security firms,

They can work as close as the want with the "best" security firm like the one that was gonna take down the hackers in the wikileaks issue but i dont think that is gonna help, the answer is to treat better the costumers, dont go making claims and sues to the paying costumers.

Work with the new tallent A.K.A. the hackers A.K.A. George hots, if there is people out there that can do a Ddos attack to PayPal, MasterCard, and Swiss bank PostFinance im sure they can take out a videogame company infrastructure

I may not be a genius but i remember like 90% of everything i read and everything i hear. And i remember reading about how to preform a DDoS attack all you have to do is download a program that comes whit instructions. So really any 12 year old that isn't illiterate can do it. I wouldn't think preforming a DDoS attack is very impressive.

I'm still iffy about whether to return or not, but I probably will. Just going to avoid buying anything with my card from now on and just get pre-paid for anything that's worth the trip to the store :s

As for the damage done, I'd say that Sony should have done this "enhanced security" BEFORE they went and got hacked. I don't expect a few bonuses tossed in to win everyone with half a brain back; a better way would be to get on their hands and knees and start begging for people not to leave them behind >.> Far as I'm concerned, it was THEIR fuck-up for not doing things right, and that's that, no matter who's fault it was.

Doesn't mean that I no longer want to see the cocksucker who now knows where I live (probably some guy in Peruvia or some obscure place like that) brought down. I most certainly do, but Sony can't just say "we're sorry, here's a cookie" and that just makes everything better by itself >.<

I don't see why so many people think it was sonys fault. If you make an unbreakable shield someone will make a sword that can break it. It will go on forever. They probably already had security and all that but someone got through it and that made them beef it up. And anyone with half a brain would know that the company involved isn't nearly as in the wrong as the people who stole the information int he first place.

People are angry because in a hack, it's not all or nothing. It's not "you get no data" or "you get fucking EVERYTHING. Usually hackers come out with an absolutely tiny portion of the data stored, and this hacker got WAY too much. The simple fact that the user data was stored in plaintext is unforgivable.

Haha, you are quite right, in this case, no one should be shook, because there is such a thing as a halfway crook.

But ain't no half steppin'. You can't fake the funk.

 

[GamingGoddessV]

Now we can finally start putting this behind us.

Like BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf, everyone will forget about it soon enough.

THANK YOU! EXACTLY! "everyone is like this is the end" "yup its the end of sony" "I guess 360 is going get more customers" Alls Sony is going to do is give people free s*** and it'll all b good.

 

[Kyoh]

Am I the only one who reads Qriocity as Queer-iocity at first glance?

 

[EchetusXe]

Am I the only one who reads Qriocity as Queer-iocity at first glance?

I just assumed they segregated the LGBT community out of the PSN. Qriocity being like the PSN only 60% more fabulous and with 90% less homophobic cursing.

 

[Danpascooch]

snip

As compared to no defense? They get your info and they have your Address and your email address. I'm not to worried about getting mail that might harm me. As for the Mediocre defense how would you know the hackers weren't the best of the best and they just made the protection they had set up look like nothing. It's one thing to say "Come on guys. You could have done better" to saying "It's your fault and you are to blame" Simple statement is Someone burns your house down but it's your fault for building it out of flammable material.

Hacking is not easy, there has to be a vulnerability, they claimed this was one server, so a single point of security (this one server) had all 45 million profiles on it. That sort of lack of compartmentalization is a critical error in secure networking. Not to mention the fact that they stated the user data was in plaintext and unencrypted. Those two facts mean that the security was unacceptably bad, no matter how skilled this hackers are.

 

[BlueMage]

from Sony's press release:



Working closely with several outside security firms,

They can work as close as the want with the "best" security firm like the one that was gonna take down the hackers in the wikileaks issue but i dont think that is gonna help, the answer is to treat better the costumers, dont go making claims and sues to the paying costumers.

Work with the new tallent A.K.A. the hackers A.K.A. George hots, if there is people out there that can do a Ddos attack to PayPal, MasterCard, and Swiss bank PostFinance im sure they can take out a videogame company infrastructure

Oh for .... look, just do us all a favour and never breed. Please?

 

[Vigilantis]

Meh whats another person with the knowledge of my name, address, and email to me. Another piece of paper in the mail/spam in my email won't pay me no nevermind, I just hope for one they of ALL people can spell my name correctly.

The free PS+ is alright despite losing any free games once the 30 days is up, but I rarely found much on there that interested me, thus I never bought a PS+ subscription.

Really just looking forward to getting online with MK9 to be honest

 

[8-Bit Grin]

Cool. I like getting things for free.

Which is exactly what they're banking on.

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

Cool. I like getting things for free.

Which is exactly what they're banking on.

Probably. Everyone likes getting free stuff.

 

[Danpascooch]

snip

As compared to no defense? They get your info and they have your Address and your email address. I'm not to worried about getting mail that might harm me. As for the Mediocre defense how would you know the hackers weren't the best of the best and they just made the protection they had set up look like nothing. It's one thing to say "Come on guys. You could have done better" to saying "It's your fault and you are to blame" Simple statement is Someone burns your house down but it's your fault for building it out of flammable material.

Hacking is not easy, there has to be a vulnerability, they claimed this was one server, so a single point of security (this one server) had all 45 million profiles on it. That sort of lack of compartmentalization is a critical error in secure networking. Not to mention the fact that they stated the user data was in plaintext and unencrypted. Those two facts mean that the security was unacceptably bad, no matter how skilled this hackers are.

Having one server seems better then multiple. even if it is to Hold the different info on separate servers. Then the servers would have to communicate between each one and that would create a good deal of lag. One server seems enough. As for the user data being encrypted do you encrypt every file on your computer that has info about you? And not Important info but just small things like addresses or groceries.

No, I don't encrypt that info, but then again, my computer is not in charge of 45 million people's. Just mine, you can bet your ass if I was in charge of 45 million people, I'd encrypt the fuck out of it, and I would sure hope Sony has better security than my laptop.

You don't need the servers to be far away from each other, hell, they can be in the same room. This isn't a 500mb file, it's profile info, even if each one was 1000 miles apart there would be basically no lag, if they put them in the same room it has the same speed as one server (ok fine, it requires like an extra 0.00000001 seconds) with the security of segmentation. The important bit is that they aren't linked to eachother directly, and each require their own security checks, that way if someone gets in, they don't make off with everything

Here are the facts:

1.) Sony lost 45 million people's data, and possibly credit cards
2.) The user data was in plaintext
3.) It was all on a single server so that once you broke that layer of security you could access all of it.

Is fact 1 enough to condemn Sony? No.

Are facts 2 and 3 enough to condemn Sony? No.

Are facts 1, 2 and 3 together enough to condemn Sony? FUCK YES.

fact one establishes damages, facts 2 and 3 establish negligence. They fucked up.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, speaking for myself I'm wondering when this "phased reboot" starts, I tried to login last night and didn't even have a chance to change my password, nor did I see any instructions for doing it through some website or whatever. Still getting a message that the system is down for maitnence.

As far as the overal situation, yes, I think Sony is to blame at least as much as the hackers. If nothing else, it can be pointed out that Sony did kind of provoke this attack.

Right now I think Blumenthal is starting down the right track, in having them cover the security costs and so on. I also think punitive measures are in order, but we'll see what transpires in that direction, and whether or not they do a good job of compensating their users. If they DO manage to compensate their users well on their own, then it's all cool, however I'm sort of expecting Sony to just toss the users a couple of dog treats and go back to business as usual.

Simply put, even with something like the 24 billion dollar price tag to cover the credit checks and such, when you look at the size of Sony, that's similar to paying the damages out of petty cash. Maybe not if you look at the "Playstation" division on it's own, but Sony is FAR more than just Playstation, it's just one of their many products, and not even close to being their most successful I don't think. A blow for the playstation section, is pretty much digging some change out of the couch for the corperation as a whole. 24 billion is a lot of change, but we're talking about a REALLY big couch, where the cracks are like Scrooge Mcduck's money bin.

The point is that whether it's due to volentary compensation, or goverment action and massive punitive damages, Sony as a whole entity should be held responsible, and should definatly be made to feel the cost.