PSN Compromised, User Data Acquired

[thresholdXCI]

So the PSN's been completely unplugged, and by the sounds of it being effectively rebuilt thanks to what must have been a pretty significant attack.

Luckily for me, it's not been a problem since I'd just moved onto Eternal Sonata (no trophies, no online) when the service went off. So as long as credit card details weren't hacked it's not really affected me. Anyone here suffering though?


EDIT: Important Update
http://kotaku.com/#!5795913/sony-comes- ... sonal-data

It's advised that you keep an eye on your personal data, such as credit card information and be on the lookout for scams.

When PSN comes back up, it is advised that passwords be changed.

[cortjezter]

i haven't been around to even launch netflix, let alone play something on my ps3 the past 2-3 weeks. i wonder if sony will be making any kind of concessions to people who actually pay for psn services?

[KingBroly]

You can still use Netflix on PSN. When it asks for you to sign in, just cancel a couple of times and you should be good to go.

[Mako]

I could care less. It is not like I "have" to go play online, I can just go play something else or do something else. Watching some of the video's of people complaining on YouTube is hilarious though. Also, hearing my brothers complain about not being able to play Black Ops all the time is priceless. I say take as much time as they need to get things right and make some of these people take a break.

[KingBroly]

OP updated with important information. Very serious.

[cortjezter]

if they dont' have the fbi/secret service involved yet, they should be. this sounds awfully invasive and criminal.

[Artistic_Anarchy]

I can't believe this. Just unbelievable. Shame on you, Sony.

[thresholdXCI]

It's pretty bad. Thankfully it doesn't look like they've found anything to suggest credit card info was taken (though who can rule it out?). Even still it's a lot of information to lose. This year's turned into a complete nightmare for Sony.

[Autosaver]

Well, they did say Sony will pay.

Why did they sue the console hacker?! They are probably better off letting people pirate then losing up to 24 billion dollars!

[KingBroly]

You can't sue someone when you don't know who they are.

[Popple]

Whoa, this situation got pretty bad. I would normally make some snarky comment about how the PS3 "suks" or that I don't own one but honestly, this could have happened to any company.

[thresholdXCI]

Whoa, this situation got pretty bad. I would normally make some snarky comment about how the PS3 "suks" or that I don't own one but honestly, this could have happened to any company.

Yeah, but what I'd hope more companies would do is come out on day one and say the network had been compromised. Not hide behind a generic error code, then "maintanence" for a few days, and only come out and say it was a hacking days later.

I love the PS3, and I've never regretting for a second getting one instead of a 360, but I don't think much of the way SCE as a company seems to handle things.

Also I don't think this is anything to do with the Hotz case directly. Aside from the fact they both settled that weeks ago, and Anon denied responsibility, this sounds like opportunist criminals acting on word of Sony's weakened security to get ammo for frauds.

[Autosaver]

You can't sue someone when you don't know who they are.

....They knew who Geohotz was?

[KingBroly]

You can't sue someone when you don't know who they are.

....They knew who Geohotz was?

Yup. I mean, Geohotz is an acronym of his name: George Hotz

[Blue_Falcon]

This is ridiculous. I haven't played any consoles for a while now, but these hackers and other low-lives of the internet age are getting incredibly annoying. See, this is what happens when parents don't discipline their children at a young age. Instead of doing their homework and studying in school they end up turning into worthless rejects (who may or may not be living in their parents' basements) who spend all their time on garbage sites like 4chan, 2chan and encyclopedia, and ogle at porn all day while spamming people's inboxes or hacking into other computers and databases. Criticize China all you want, but frankly, I think Western society (and that includes Japan) need to learn a little from them about control and discipline. Something need to be done about this nonsense "anon" group.

[t27duck]

See, this is what happens when parents don't discipline their children at a young age.

This is also what happens when you have the dev toolset on the actual end user systems that can be accessible once the private key is found and have the dev server not validate credit card info and give you access to other data. It's a lession in basic system security structures. All the security was more or less on the PS3 and not so much on the PSN servers. I really hope someone gets fired at Sony HQ over this. very poorly designed overall.

As far as the credit card info goes, it really depends on what was taken from the servers and how Sony encrypted the data (PCI regulations are very specific in what is required). If it's relatively basic two-way encryption, it's a matter of waiting out a rainbow table attack before the information is exposed to all.

I'm very curious if this all could've been avoided had Sony never removed the boot into Linux option on the PS3...

Also, Japan is usually considered "eastern culture" while the US is "western".


Off topic: Am I the only one who is shocked no one has ever publicly took a crack at breaking into the XBOX Live servers? They're pretty much just running a clustered Windows Server 2003 as the backbone for the system. Surprised MS hasn't been hacked yet. Guess it's considered "too easy" for the crackers? lol

[KingBroly]

It's probably happened, but MS probably has closer ties to the Fed when it comes to internet crimes, so they can probably get hackers before anything goes public.

As far as the whole Linux thing goes. They removed them from PS3's when the Slim came out, Geohot said he'd make CFW because of it, Sony then removed the option from current PS3's where the snafu started. Once it got cracked though, it was wide open spaces for everything from running rom's, cheats, etc. Even the 360 and Wii aren't hacked this badly. I think mainly because Sony basically dared the hackers to do it.

My guess for the future? PS4 has Linux in it.

[t27duck]

Here's hoping the Linux option is better than PuppyLinux....

Moral of this story:
secure your systems the right way so you won't get egg on your face later.
don't tick off nerds
Be carful on how you give out your financial information.

[Blue_Falcon]

This is also what happens when you have the dev toolset on the actual end user systems that can be accessible once the private key is found and have the dev server not validate credit card info and give you access to other data. It's a lession in basic system security structures. All the security was more or less on the PS3 and not so much on the PSN servers. I really hope someone gets fired at Sony HQ over this. very poorly designed overall.

Also, Japan is usually considered "eastern culture" while the US is "western".

Off topic: Am I the only one who is shocked no one has ever publicly took a crack at breaking into the XBOX Live servers? They're pretty much just running a clustered Windows Server 2003 as the backbone for the system. Surprised MS hasn't been hacked yet. Guess it's considered "too easy" for the crackers? lol

Yes, that's why it took this long for the hackers to penetrate the system. Why has nobody hacked the 360 yet? It's not a question of "too easy" or "too hard." It's because they have too much time on their hands. Even if the PS3's security system was poorly designed, if children and teenagers were busy studying in school, they wouldn't be wasting their time trying making others' lives miserable.

And I wasn't referring to Japan's historical or traditional culture. Modern Japanese society is becoming, in many ways, more and more like Western society.

[t27duck]

If children and teenagers were busy studying in school they wouldn't be playing video games in the first place.

I'm not condoning the crackers responsible for the attack, I'm just saying the homebrew and geek community was completely satisfied with the Linux option on the PS3 where they could code for the system to their hearts' content.

[Blue_Falcon]

If children and teenagers were busy studying in school they wouldn't be playing video games in the first place.

I'm not condoning the crackers responsible for the attack, I'm just saying the homebrew and geek community was completely satisfied with the Linux option on the PS3 where they could code for the system to their hearts' content.

Yes they would; it's entertainment and a harmless way to pass time. The same as watching a movie or reading a book or going to the park. But when you pastime is an 'illegal' activity or something that's detrimental to others, then you know that something went wrong with the parenting.

I don't understand the bold text. They hacked the system because they were satisfied with it...?

Also, why don't these hackers use their knowledge for good? You're a programmer, but you're doing things that are helpful to hundreds of people! You're appreciated instead of loathed. These hackers could study in school and get jobs at Google, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook or even start their own company. Instead they waste their time as well as the time of others, doing useless and annoying things like hacking a game system and then end up getting sued by major corporations and tracked by the police (or FBI). Such a waste of knowledge and effort.

[thresholdXCI]

I don't understand the bold text. They hacked the system because they were satisfied with it...?

They hadn't or weren't hacking the system. They were playing around with coding inside Linux. The PS3 OS - as far as I'm aware - was always kept separated with whatever security they had. What most people were doing with Linux was perfectly fine and legal. It's just that Sony feared the system could be hacked via Linux. I'm not sure entirely what happened to lead them to make that decision, but they must have had some reason. Not that 99% of their userbase gave a shovel anyway.

Anyway, 30 days free PS+ announced as a reward for our loyalty. Seems reasonable enough I guess.

[Product]

See, this is what happens when parents don't discipline their children at a young age.

You better have children well into their teens to even make such a comment.

[Chased]

I have a PS3 for 2 years now(I think) and all this time something was telling me to not put any information in PSN's services. I don't know...I play video games since I was a little kid and for me it is clear that Sony just doesn't care for their customers.
Unlike Nintendo that they care(in different ways and not all of them being good),Sony only cares until you buy their products!Up until then,they are your best friend and after that,they tell you "Go eff yourself! You are just a number for us!"...
So, I suspected something like that was coming...

One good solution,is to put fake data as names,addresses and stuff and never buy anything with your credit cards...

[Blue_Falcon]

See, this is what happens when parents don't discipline their children at a young age.

You better have children well into their teens to even make such a comment.

No I don't. I do however have parents as do all my friends and acquaintances so I can draw comparisons.

And I don't need kids to have common sense. If a child spends all his time playing games, watching porn and surfing the internet, then it's the parents' fault.