Sony is alerting users to further security issues with the Playstation Network. Details here...
It’s safe to say that the recent problems with Playstation Network, where the security of the network and millions of peoples' personal data were compromised, had a significant financial impact on the company as well as affecting public confidence in the service as well.
So it’s not a great sign that there are signs of more security concerns with the network. Sony, though, appears to have learned its lesson, and is keeping users well informed this time around. It also appears to have the issue in hand.
The following was posted by Sony’s new chief information security officer Philip Retinger on the Playstation EU Blog, informing users of recent attempts on the network:
“We want to let you know that we have detected attempts on Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (“Networks”) services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database. These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources. In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks. We have taken steps to mitigate the activity.
He added:
"Less than one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected. There were approximately 93,000 accounts globally (PSN/SEN: approximately 60,000 accounts; SOE: approximately 33,000) where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts. Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked. We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them. Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk. We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet.
As a preventative measure, we are requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt. If you are in the small group of PSN/SEN users who may have been affected, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will prompt you to reset your password.
Similarly, the SOE accounts that were matched have been temporarily turned off. If you are among the small group of affected SOE customers, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will advise you on next steps in order to validate your account credentials and have your account turned back on."
Reitinger was hired by Sony last month with the express purpose of preventing a repeat of the attacks that were so damaging to the company, and is a former director of the US Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity Center. He certainly seems well equipped for the role.
Should any further developments come to light we’ll let you know.
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.