PSN Down

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Say what? O_o;

[Dr. Thunder]

I found this out on easter sunday from a friend of mine and some how it came up on the news on monday morning I wonder who the hacker is that did this?

[Light Buster]

Lol. Xbox people don't go around thinking this can't happen to xbl because quite frankly it can and probably will though probably not the same people.

Agree with you, XBL may be the next target.

[demonix]

That's why I wouldn't call anon hackers. Not sure if I'd even call them crackers since all they tend to do is DDoS attacks. Anyone can pull it off since a program does the work for you. All you do in such a case is overwhelm the server till it crashes. This is what leads me to believe it's not anon doing it but someone else.

I read a theory on another forum I frequent that it might've been an expert hacking group (or even a criminal gang) using anons threats to cover their tracks.

[GameGeeks]

If that's the case, it'd certainly be a smart move.

[Ranshiin]

Well, that wouldn't really surprise me. Since most people tend to automatically assume Anonymous are to blame for these sorts of things due to their history, using the "Anonymous did it" alibi to hide the true culprits is obviously going to work.

The fact that Anonymous possess something of a moot opinion on this doesn't help the theory either, as I already said.

[GameGeeks]

As far as I'm concerned. Anon is just a kid playing in a grownup world when it comes to cracking. I suggest looking up some stories of past events such as the great hacker war. Albeit, they did it to each other but still stands to show how it'd actually play out if a hacker/cracker got series. Anon has yet to leave the kiddie pool. DDoS attacks are the most basic form of hacking out there and it's all they ever do. Sure it's a costly annoyance but it's just that, an annoyance.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Sony Press Conference:
http://www.irwebcasting.com/live/110501/02/index.html

Just announced people will get PSN plus for 30 days when it returns.

[GameGeeks]

Really? That's it. That's rather pathetic considering the potential for damage.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Yeah, I agree. =\ 30 of Plus is nothing...it's not like 30 days of LIVE at all. They should make it a 3 or 5 months.

But oh well.

[GameGeeks]

Especially considering they're charging for things like demos and the like.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

No they don't? PSN+ is like a V.I.P pass, they get the demo first and then regular people have to wait. I understand the idea but I don't care for it so that's why I don't have it yet.

EDIT: They might give some free games as well. =\ They better make it as of choice and not make us choose and not some mediocre game.

[GameGeeks]

Still paying for demos if you ask me.

[Ranshiin]

I just lol'd.

"Your personal data was compromised. As compensation ... here's a month of our Plus service, where you can get game demos before regular users ... and that's about it."

In the wake of the disturbance to their service, a 3-month free upgrade should be an automatic given.

[blueangel06661]

I say they should let each member pick one game and get it for free.

I want portal 2 but I lost all intentions of paying for it after a crappy customer service walmart ordeal.

But that'd be better than plus. Plus does not interest me..

for one month it's about a $4.00 value. According to Sony. Yeah that's right they are giving us something that has a $4.00 value. And the demo's are sorta pointless since most have been out for a while. And the discounts are for lame games such as... Hamster ball. Majong Tales..... To name a few.... And it's not like a trial for a big upcoming game is going to come out during the 30 days we are able to use plus. So knock that feature out of the water.

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

After the 30 days, the free games you get with Plus expires.

So I say get 2-3 free PSN Games of our choice is good.

---------- Post added at 11:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Geo's take on this, interesting read, lol:
http://www.qj.net/ps3/news/geohot-on...t-involve.html

As we reported over the weekend, Sony has acknowledged that the PSN outage is due to "an external intrusion" into their system. In a lengthy post over his blog, Hotz noted that he was not involve with the attack.

"To start, I sure am glad I don't have a PSN account about now. And, as a onetime victim of identity theft, I feel for everyone who's data has been stolen," he said. "I'm not going to make cracks at Sony for flipping a grozit when /their/ data is compromised, and not even having the decency to apologize when it's your data that's misappropriated.

"And to anyone who thinks I was involved in any way with this, I'm not crazy, and would prefer to not have the FBI knocking on my door. Running homebrew and exploring security on your devices is cool, hacking into someone elses server and stealing databases of user info is not cool. You make the hacking community look bad, even if it is aimed at douches like Sony.

He then went on to add: "One of the things I was contemplating back in early January was a PSN alternative, a place for jailbroken consoles to download homebrew and game without messing up anyone else's experience. Unfortunately events led me off of that path, but gamers, if I had succeeded you would have a place to game online with your PS3 right now. I'm one of the good guys. I used to play games online on PC, I hated cheaters then and I hate them now.

"Also, let's not fault the Sony engineers for this, the same way I do not fault the engineers who designed the BMG rootkit. The fault lies with the executives who declared a war on hackers, laughed at the idea of people penetrating the fortress that once was Sony, whined incessantly about piracy, and kept hiring more lawyers when they really needed to hire good security experts. Alienating the hacker community is not a good idea.

"Now until more information is revealed on the technicals, I can only speculate, but I bet Sony's arrogance and misunderstanding of ownership put them in this position. Sony execs probably haughtily chuckled at the idea of threat modeling. Traditionally the trust boundary for a web service exists between the server and the client. But Sony believes they own the client too, so if they just put a trust boundary between the consumer and the client(can't trust those pesky consumers), everything is good. Since everyone knows the PS3 is unhackable, why waste money adding pointless security between the client and the server? This arrogance undermines a basic security principle, never trust the client. It's the same reason MW2 was covered in cheaters, Activision even admitted to the mistake of trusting Sony's client. Sony needs to accept that they no longer own and control the PS3 when they sell it to you. Notice it's only PSN that gave away all your personal data, not Xbox Live when the 360 was hacked, not iTunes when the iPhone was jailbroken, and not GMail when Android was rooted. Because other companies aren't crazy.

"And let's talk about Sony's use of the word illegal. It is illegal, criminally so, to break into someone else's servers. But when the same word is used to refer to streaming a song from a non RIAA approved website, or to *gasp* playing a homebrew game on your PS3, respect for the word and those who say it is lost.

"Weighing in quickly on the whole hacker vs cracker thing. I am a hacker. Whoever did this were hackers also. The media will never start using the word cracker. To me, a hacker is just somebody with a set of skills; hacker is to computer as plumber is to pipes. And the same ethics should apply, if you want to mess with the pipes in your own house, go for it. But don't go breaking into people's houses and messing with their pipes. (Note that I do not endorse water piracy)

Hotz ends his post with a note to his fellow hackers themselves: "To the perpetrator, two things. You are clearly talented and will have plenty of money(or a jail sentence and bankruptcy) coming to you in the future. Don't be a dick and sell people's information. And I'd love to see a write up on how it all went down...lord knows we'll never get that from Sony, noobs probably had the password set to '4' or something. I mean, at least it was randomly generated."

And PSN will be back this week:
http://www.qj.net/ps3/news/some-psn-...this-week.html

Sony isn't just apologizing for the PlayStation Network debacle that has kept users from accessing the online service for more than a week now. The company is still working feverishly to restore PSN to a fully functioning state. According to a recent press release from Sony, we should start seeing some of the services back online this week.

The press release, posted on the EU PlayStation blog, says that a phased rollout by region will commence this week. The announcement comes straight from the company's Tokyo headquarters so it likely also applies to regional PSN services other than the EU PSN. Among the services included in the initial phase of the rollout are the following:

• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems
• This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation Home
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality

The press release also mentions some of the new security measures that are being put into place, including additional firewalls and enhancements to data protection and encryption systems. Also mentioned is the "Welcome Back" program that Sony will be putting into place in appreciation for the patience and support of PSN users. You can see the full press release by clicking on the source link below.

[blueangel06661]

Oh.. they are giving us some features we already had... o.O lol?

But I still don't understand why Sony didn't have a backup. They could've put that backup in place while they rebuilt the new system from the ground up. Then replaced it once finished so at least I could play half of my games :/

[GameGeeks]

If they'd did that there'd be nothing stopping that from being hacked just as easily as the original.

[FluffyDango]

You don`t have to pay for demos for games that have been released.
I`ve never played anything other then open betas for games that haven`t been released yet.

I haven`t been bothered with this.
I don`t use a credit card on the Store, only PSN cards.
Well only 1 thing is bothering me, hope I can still log in to my account when it get back on :P
---------------------

A question about Plus:
When you install a game that is exclusive to plus users, can you still play it when/if the plus runs out?
(Quote this part so that I know that it`s been answered).

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

A question about Plus:
When you install a game that is exclusive to plus users, can you still play it when/if the plus runs out?
(Quote this part so that I know that it`s been answered).

Yeah, like PSN Plus members got to try Mortal Kombat 9 a few weeks before regular users. And of course, Open betas like the SOCOM 4 one.

Once your + runs out, the free stuff you get by with expires as well, once you resubscribe, you can access it once more.

[FluffyDango]

Once your + runs out, the free stuff you get by with expires as well, once you resubscribe, you can access it once more.

Will your progression in the games be lost?

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

Will your progression in the games be lost?

Not really, like the only thing that it won't let you do is access the game..it still will be in your HDD in case you resubscribe and can always play it again or continue playing.

[Ranshiin]

Well, really they aren't 'free' then, are they? Since you have to be a Plus member (and thus be paying a subscription fee) in order to actually have access to said 'free' media.

>.>

[demonix]

The 30 days free PS+ is part of the "welcome back" package which also includes free content (weather or not this is just PS+ content is unknown but I think it isn't since it wouldn't help after everything that has gone on) and 30 days extra qriocity service for those who are already subscribers of that service (from what I've read this seems to just be the tip of the iceberg as there seems to be more offerings to come from this "welcome back" appreciation program).

Once your + runs out, the free stuff you get by with expires as well, once you resubscribe, you can access it once more.

But you have to re-download the content before you can use it again.

[FluffyDango]

I`m gonna buy a 1 year sub of Plus before the 30 days ends.
I bought 2 PSN cards the day PSN went down so :P