Well I do not know if it is some sort of sign or not but when I have been on my Japan account the scrolling info bar (top right near the clock) was off last week ,no info ,but the past few days its been back again ,also last night I tried signing in and it was taking ages so I thought yipee.... then noticed my internet light connection on my router wasn't on ....:sad: ,would be funny if I wasn't get a lil frustrated doh.... roll on June 14th ...Alice madness returns might make me love my PS3 once again
I've been getting more and more curious as to how exactly this is going to work whenever they get things back up and running. I know everyone is wondering the same and the last thing we need is more speculation, but I cant help but to wonder. I was hoping that it might be as simple as a password change for each account, but a hacker with all of my information could do that, so Im thinking that it will require something more than that to verify an account. On the other hand, if they do require more than that, like specific personal info that will match, then that doesnt seem to make sense either because that info was compromised as well. Maybe Im not thinking this all the way through, in terms of other options, but it will be interesting at the least to see how this all unfolds.......and I know, we'll just have to wait and see. :wallbash:
Don't kill the messenger... Sony yet to fully secure its networks: expert By Jim Finkle BOSTON | Fri May 13, 2011 5:48pm EDT (Reuters) - Sony Corp's computer networks remain vulnerable to attack three weeks after the company learned that it had been victim of one of the biggest data breaches in history, according to an Internet security expert. The expert found a handful of security flaws in Sony's networks while remotely studying its systems via the Internet to see how difficult it would be to penetrate the electronics giant's systems in the wake of the attacks. Security researcher John Bumgarner discovered a potential bonanza for hackers by using little more than a web browser, Google's search engine and a basic understanding of Internet security systems. "Sony still has several external security issues that need to be addressed," said Bumgarner, chief technology officer for the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a research group funded by government and private sector grants that monitors Internet threats. Bumgarner, a well-regarded Internet security researcher and U.S. military special operations veteran, identified a handful of flaws that would be easy for a hacker to identify and potentially exploit. Sony did not respond directly to Reuters on the security lapses that Bumgarner said he had uncovered, but three of five flaws that Reuters pointed out to the company on Thursday were fixed later in the day. "The first and most important thing to note is that protecting our customers data is a company-wide commitment that we take very seriously," a Sony spokesman said in an email on Thursday. Sony officials did not return calls seeking further comment on Friday. It was not immediately clear if the identified security gaps allowed for access to active or defunct systems. Several flaws remain, according to Bumgarner, who said he had viewed only parts of Sony's network that were visible over the Internet and did not attempt to break in to password-protected sites or exploit any vulnerabilities. He found no evidence of breaches beyond the two Sony has disclosed. But he said he was able to find gateways to internal systems and locate data that would be useful to hackers by using simple techniques that he shared with Reuters. SONY SANTA The techniques uncovered a number of security gaps. Through a series of Google searches, Bumgarner was able to find a software program that Sony developed in 2001 to run a SonyStyle.com Christmas gift registry and sweepstakes program called Sony Santa. That program gathered users' names, addresses and ages. The names and partial addresses of some 2,500 of those sweepstakes contestants were posted on a website. Sony said on Thursday that it learned of the error on May 5. The site has been taken down and Sony is working to remove any residual links to the list, a spokesman said. Bumgarner also found an access point to a server running an identity management system that he said controls access to logins and passwords for employees throughout Sony Pictures Entertainment. He located that system by conducting a Google search using the terms "site:.Sony.com identity." Most companies attempt to hide these servers from the prying eyes of potential hackers because these systems are linked to sensitive employee account data, he said. In a file on Sony's website that alerts search-engine crawlers to which sections of the site that Sony wants a search engine to avoid cataloging, the company provided a link to an internal password-protected software application. Bumgarner said the domain on Sony Corporation of America's network where the application was located was carefully hidden from view, so a web crawler or casual surfer would not have located it. But putting the URL in the file effectively served as a red flag to potential hackers who might see it as a potential weak spot in Sony's armor, Bumgarner said. On May 4, Bumgarner located a server in the Sony network that disclosed the names, Facebook IDs and IP addresses of Sony customers who were playing online games through Facebook. IP addresses allow somebody to track the general location of a player. He Tweeted his discovery on May 4 and Sony plugged the leak two days later. The company installed a security management system from Riverbed Technology on the server that leaked the Facebook data. Bumgarner was able to view an access screen to the Riverbed system that had the login field filled with a user ID through May 10. "No one should be able to point a web browser at Sony and see a security management console or find their identity management system that has been indexed by Google," he said. Sony has fixed some of the flaws after Reuters detailed them in an email. They include removing the file from its website that tells search-engine crawlers which sections of the site to avoid cataloging. Sony disabled access to the password-protected application that the file originally pointed to and eliminated access to the Riverbed security system. WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS Bumgarner's research showed that the problems with Sony's systems are more widespread than the company has acknowledged. Sony has said that only its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment systems were hacked. Most of the flaws that Bumgarner discovered were in other Sony networks -- that of the Sony Corporation of America, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Electronics Corp. Security experts say companies need to be discerning when deciding which servers to expose to the Internet. Many of the flaws that Bumgarner discovered were identified with a tactic known among hackers and security experts as "Google hacking" -- using the search engine's advanced features to find information that would be of use to hackers. He found the Sony Santa program by searching for items on Sony's network written in Microsoft Excel format (site:.sony.com filetype:xls). Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at computer security firm F-Secure, said Sony should have been more careful. "They've been running in circles for the past three weeks," Hypponen said. "The first thing a consultant group or an Internet response group would do is run a basic vulnerability scan and that's what they would find," he said, referring to the lapses found by Bumgarner. Security experts have said they believe the hackers initially gained access to Sony's network through a "spear-phishing" attack that targeted a systems administrator who had broad privileges to access data on Sony's networks. In "spear-phishing" campaigns, hackers craft e-mails with personalized messages so that the recipients let their guard down and click on links or download attachments that launch malicious software programs that take over their computers. Once one PC is corrupted, hackers can use that machine as a base from which to launch sophisticated operations, such as the attacks on Sony's networks. Bumgarner found a page on Sony's website that lists the names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of IT managers that he said the hackers could have used to launch a spear phishing attack. He found that information through Google searches. (Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Ken Li and Ted Kerr.)
well.... there goes that. Looks like at least another week or two of more coding than another week more of testing..... Maybe they can get it up next week, but then, maybe we are screwed till June. God I hope not. But then, I'm not optimistic. As soon as my workload decreases, I'm registering on Second Life. Don't get me wrong, I won't abandon Home. But I need something to do until they get their act together. Home is much better than SL. But without PSN, SL is the best there is (that I know of).
It will take them 6months to build a new PSN that works... They might as well go back to the drawing board and start from scratch! Because we know the platform they have now is useless! Darn it SONY!
I never want to see sausage made, but I couldn't stop reading the Reuters article about Bumgarner, etc. Thanks Trill. The good news, if there is any, is that it refers to holes that were found last week and before. Some of which have already been fixed/patched/rewritten. PSN might not be up real "soon" but at least when it is, it should be one of the most secure apps around and a perfect example of how not to secure a Network for Tech classes to come.
PlayStation Network downtime beginning to impact system, game sales - Yahoo! News PlayStation Network downtime beginning to impact system, game sales By Mike Wehner – Fri May 13, 2:55 pm ET As we enter day 24 of PlayStation Network downtime, it's becoming apparent that Sony's troubles are starting to affect its bottom line. According to video game news organization Edge, many retailers are citing much higher-than-average return rates on PS3 games and consoles. Increases of over 200% are common, with gamers either choosing to swap their PlayStation 3s for an Xbox 360s or cold, hard cash. Stores are noting that the online shooter crowd, accustomed to playing online games like Call of Duty: Black Ops on a daily basis, are the ones making the switch to Microsoft's competing system. These reports have been supported by recently released sales data that shows the Xbox 360 version of the latest Call of Duty title sharply increased after Sony's network bit the dust. The PlayStation network originally went down way back on April 20, and 6 days later, Sony informed its subscribers that their data had likely been breached by an unauthorized third party. To soften the blow, the company has since offered free identity theft protection and has plans to offer free software, but every day the network remains down means more disgruntled gamers and apparently, more Xbox 360 converts. (Source) More from Tecca: PlayStation Network breach exposed names, addresses, passwords, and more Sony offers free ID theft protection as rumors swirl of new attack Sony shooting for full PlayStation Network restoration by May 31
Well no @#$% it's going to impact sales. PSN is a big reason to get a PS3, which is why they can't take much longer getting the network up again.
That's to be expected, most games have online play nowadays as a selling point, if not the primary feature. The article says Black Ops in the UK was 49 / 37% (360 / PS3) before the outage, and last week, 66 / 24. I imagine exclusives like Socom 4 are hurting even more, because they don't have another system to make up sales with.
For What It's Worth :crybaby: :baby: PSN Developer Network Back Online, Full Network Back Soon?, News from GamePro "The internal PSN developer network is online again," claims NeoGAF user Kagari, who says a number of developers have confirmed these reports. "Things are still a bit shaky at the moment such as lack of new account sign up. Looks like the network, at least the online play/account part of it, will be back soon."
Almost 4 weeks with no psn would think sony would work over time day and time and no sleep to get it back up..
Amazon Server Said to Be Used in Sony Attack Here's an interesting story for you all..... Amazon.com Inc.’s Web Services cloud- computing unit was used by hackers in last month’s attack against Sony Corp.’s online entertainment systems, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Hackers using an alias signed up to rent a server through Amazon’s EC2 service and launched the attack from there, said the person, who requested anonymity because the information is confidential. The account has been shut down, the person said. More HERE
Sony yet to fully secure its networks There is certainly enough bad news to go around about Sony these days. A lot of web sites have been doing a lot of speculating. So I tend to only read strories from sources that SHOULD be reliable. Here's an interesting story from Reuters. Maybe this is why we are still waiting for PSN to come back..... Sony yet to fully secure its networks MORE HERE (Thanks JP..... I missed Trill's post! )
