Playstation // Current TV

Sony PlayStation Network Hacked Once Again

"The hack involves the PSN web-based password reset page, where it’s said... more

Paisano1
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1 year ago
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3 comments

PlayStation Hackers Boast Over Two Million Credit Cards

“Sony is saying the credit cards were encrypted, but we are hearing that the... more

Paisano1
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1 year ago
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The SideQuest Episode 304: LIVE! Naked! Portal 2!

Episode 304. Nudity. That’s pretty much how the podcast starts this week.... more

kewlrats
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1 year ago
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Playstation 3: What Happens Next?

What takes place after the PSN #ApocalyPS3? We take a look at several questions still... more

kewlrats
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1 year ago
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PlayStation Breach Affects Over 70 Million Customers

"Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe... more

Paisano1
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1 year ago
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Sony: Hacker stole PlayStation users' personal info

A hacker has obtained the personal information of PlayStation Network account holders... more

GoldenHeart
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1 year ago
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BREAKING: Sony’s S1 and S2 are the Playstation Tablets

Sony officially debuts its Playstation-branded tablets, the 9.4" S1 and the... more

kewlrats
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1 year ago
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It's Official, PSN Outage Caused by Meddling Hackers!

Unfortunately for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services users, it looks like the widespread network outages will continue.

Since Sony’s PlayStation and music networks went down two days ago, there has been a fair amount of public speculation over the cause of the outage. (Largely due to Sony’s tight-lipped handling of public relations.) Many blamed vengeful gremlins loose in Sony’s server clusters and datacenters, while others immediately pointed the finger at Anonymous, the merry band of hackers that metastasized out of 4chan.

Thankfully, after 24+ hours of communication silence, Sony has updated its blog and ended the speculation. According to the electronics colossus, “an external intrusion” is responsible for the ongoing outages of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity. (It probably sounded like this at Sony headquarters. Or this.)

As to who these nefarious “intruders” are: It seems that Sony does not yet know who is responsible for the breach, or if it does, it is instead smartly spending its time sealing areas of vulnerability and trying to get the network back up and running. And though reports of PlayStation’s outage began heating up early Thursday morning, Sony reports that it in fact self-defensively shut down the Network sometime Wednesday evening.

According to the network’s blog, “An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.”

So, when I said Sony has ended all speculation, I was really only half-correct. Sony is still not naming the party responsible for the breach, so the speculation will likely continue. (Can you hear the blogosphere cheering?) Anonymous has prior beef with Sony and has attacked the company before, so it’s not surprising many blamed them for the service disruption. (You can read more about Anon’s prior grievances with Sony in yesterday’s post.)

However, AnonOps (Anonymous Operations), the group’s mouthpiece and network through which members frequently communicate, has adamantly stated via its news wing that it was not responsible for the outage. Though, it seems that this particular announcement was made prior to Sony delivering the news that the problem was in fact due to hacking. So, Anonymous pointing to Sony’s incompetence as the cause of the outages is off base. Sort of.

More likely, as Anonymous makes mention of in the announcement, the hack was perpetrated by some offshoot of the group, which is either more angry at Sony than the majority, or is more eager to get its precious “lulz”. (While I have to admit that I sometimes find myself sympathetic to some of Anonymous’ philosophical stances, it’s hard not to use words like “fundamentalist” when referring to “factions” within the group, and draw structural comparisons between black hatters and terrorists. There are obviously important distinctions here, and line-blurring, but there it is.) Or, on the other hand, we might soon be learning of an as-yet-unknown hacker entity that is making a run at Anonymous for public notoriety. Gulp.

The PlayStation Network currently has over 70 million users and is Sony’s online medium for its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles. Both the Network, and Sony’s Qriocity music service were targeted. As stated previously, in its most recent blog post, Network spokespeople make no mention of how long the outage will continue, but it’s likely that it may take several more days to sort out. And this is after Sony posted yesterday saying that the outage may last for a “full day or two” — and after Amazon’s web and cloud services suffered from their own major outage.

At this point, the outage has lasted for over 48 hours and has become quite a disaster for Sony. (Or a “kerfuffle”, if you prefer a softer word.) Now, if this were in fact the result of denial-of-service attacks, it’s hard to place the blame entirely on Sony. Few networks can defend against large-scale DDoS attacks, which is, sadly, the point. That being said, the company has known since Wednesday night that there was an intrusion, so I find it odd that it would wait for two days to inform its users — and remove a post from its EU blog early Thursday saying that the outage is a result of “targeted behaviour by an outside party”.

All in all, the company’s public relations strategy is, at the least, very confusing. While it’s true that millions of gamers are being inconvenienced and are being forced offline, sure, it’s certainly not the end of the world. But, both for the sake of the company — and its users — a higher frequency of communication and level of transparency has to be achieved. In today’s world, a company can’t allow its official Twitter streams (@Playstation has nearly 800K followers) to go without an update for 24 hours. Especially when 70 million people are affected.

So, for everyone’s sake, I hope the Network can get up and running before this turns into the longest widespread network outage (due to hacking) in recent memory. If it isn’t already.Unfortunately for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services users, it looks like the... more

existentialist
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1 year ago
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.hack//GU Rebirth TGS 2005 Trailer.

5 years after the Twilight Incident, new heroes return to face a new threat to the... more

Agent_Alpha
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1 year ago
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The Official Peanut Butter Mech Band Camp SIte is Up and more updates coming soon!

Check us out! http://peanutbuttermechherbanlyf.bandcamp.com/

deangilowithani
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1 year ago
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Sony NGP (PSP2) WiFi reportedly to cost $250 and $350 for 3G Version | Tech Prezz

Sony’s new PlayStation Portable Sony NGP is reportedly to be priced about $250... more

techprezz
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1 year ago
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Dragon Age 2 Review

It's not as bad as others are making it out to be!

ZeitgeistReview
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1 year ago
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Marvel vs Capcom 3 Review - Zeitgeist Game Review

Marvel vs Capcom 3 Review

ZeitgeistReview
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1 year ago
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Killzone 3: The PS3 Attitude Review

Killzone 3 is clearly a title that makes some people uncomfortable. This particular... more

DolphGB
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1 year ago
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News – Xenogears coming to PSN

Many fans are letting out a big gasp of air and looking to the sky and screaming... more

Ajoyshop
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1 year ago
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Sony Threatens to Terminate Service of PS3 Jailbreakers

Sony said Wednesday it would permanently block PlayStation 3 owners from the PlayStation Network if they are using jailbroken consoles.

Access to what Sony describes as a “world of entertainment” will be “terminated permanently,” the Japanese entertainment concern announced.

“To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems,” Jeff Rubenstein, the company’s social-media manager, said in a blog post.

Sony did not return a message seeking comment about details on how it would carry out its threats. The demands came six weeks after the first full-fledged PS3 hack was released. The hack was designed to allow PlayStation 3 owners the ability to play homebrewed games, but can be tweaked to allow the console to play pirated games.

Sony’s chest pounding is in connection to a lawsuit against well-known iPhone jailbreaker George Hotz, 21 of New Jersey. He released the PS3 code hack in January, and now finds himself in San Francisco federal court, facing unspecified damages on Digital Millennium Copyright Act violations and other allegations.

It was the first full-fledged hack of the 4-year-old console, with 41 million units sold worldwide.

The DMCA of 1998 creates civil liability for trafficking in tools that “circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access” to copyrighted material.

Sony said jailbroken consoles breach its terms-of-service agreement and “community code of conduct.”

As part of the Hotz case, Sony has won the right to inspect his hard drive for materials associated with the jailbreak, and to remove such files.

Litigation in Sony’s case against Hotz is ongoing. A judge already ordered Hotz to remove the code from his website and also demanded he remove a how-to YouTube video. Hotz, nicknamed GeoHot, has complied.

Stay tuned to Threat Level for the latest developments.

By the way, it’s not unlawful to jailbreak a mobile phone.Sony said Wednesday it would permanently block PlayStation 3 owners from the... more

jasonshurb
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1 year ago
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Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll Video Review

ZeitgeistReview
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1 year ago
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Teen Beats and Kills Mom for Banning Him from PlayStation

Kendall Anderson, a 16-year-old kid that killed his mom because she took away his... more

NerdReactorTV
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1 year ago
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Son bludgeoned sleeping mom cause she took PlayStation

When her 16-year-old son got into trouble last November, Rashida Anderson responded... more

bundlebear
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1 year ago
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5 comments

Sony VP of Marketing tricked into tweeting PS3′s security key

Sony PlayStation's comedy VP of marketing Kevin Butler has accidentally promoted... more

richjm
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1 year ago
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