SOE Recent Updates

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

RECENT UPDATES

May 4, 2011

We want to thank you again for your patience as we work to get the SOE services back up and running. We received several questions and comments relating to the criminal attack to our network and would like to address some of the most common questions today. We are also going to continue to post updates to this website with new information as they become available.

We appreciate your continued patience and feedback.

Thank you,

Sony Online Entertainment


When will SOE's services be back online?
We have been working around the clock to restore operations as quickly as possible, and we expect to have some of our games and services up and running soon. However, we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we believe that the network is secure.

How is the SOE intrusion related to the PSN/Qriocity intrusion? Was this a second attack on SOE?
While the two systems are distinct and operated separately, given that they are both under the Sony umbrella, there is some degree of overlap in design. The attacks were similar in nature. This is NOT a second attack; new information has been discovered as part of our ongoing investigation into the criminal attack in April.

How is SOE planning to notify customers whose data may have been stolen?
We are sending out customer service notification emails to the email addresses we have on file for the accounts that were affected. These emails will be sent by Innovyx, our third party email distributor, and will contain either 'soe.innovyx.net' or 'soe.sony.com' in the sender field.

SOE initially thought no data was extracted, what changed?
Essentially the perpetrators used sophisticated means not only to access the data, but also to cover their tracks. We committed to continue the investigation and in doing so, uncovered further information that we did not have when we initially believed the data was not stolen.


Source: www.soe.com/securityupdate/recentupdates.vm

[The Almighty HH!]

t( '.' t)

[soar]

Thanks for the data, Kallark. I would be checking myself but it's so damn hard to type with these withdrawal symptoms.

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

THIS IS BULLSHIT!!
--------------------------------

DC Universe™ Online - The Official Game Page
Unfortunately, we are unable to bring SOE services back online today. We regret the downtime.

Source: www.facebook.com/#!/DCUniverseOnline

Source: www.facebook.com/#!/SOE

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

I don't know if this also applied to the PC games but, maybe it's good news?
----------------------------------------------------------
Important Step for Service Restoration
+ Posted by Patrick Seybold // Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media
MAY 05, 2011

Today our global network and security teams at Sony Network Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment began the final stages of internal testing of the new system, an important step towards restoring PlayStation Network and Qriocity services.

As previously mentioned, we’ve been working around the clock to rebuild the network and enhance protections of your personal data. It’s our top priority to ensure your data is safe when you begin using the services again.

We understand that many of you are eager to again enjoy the PlayStation Network and Qriocity entertainment services that you love, so we wanted you to be aware of this milestone and our progress. We will provide additional updates as soon as we can.



Source: blog.us.playstation.com/2011/05/05/important-step-for-service-restoration/

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

SHIT, maybe not!!!! The END of May?!?!?!
--------------------------------------

Sony gamers may face ID-theft risk for years
Cliff Edwards,Michael Riley, Bloomberg News

Bloomberg May 3, 2011 04:00 AM Copyright Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Sony Corp., maker of the PlayStation 3 video-game console, may have exposed customers to years of potential identity theft after hackers breached the company's online entertainment networks in mid-April.

The risk will stay with as many as 100 million customers of Sony's PlayStation Network, Sony Online Entertainment and Qriocity film and music service for years, even as the chance of credit card fraud recedes, said Steve Ward, a spokesman for online-security company Invincea.

"The attackers may have your name, your birth date, potentially your mother's maiden name," Ward said in an interview. "These are all the things used to check your identity, and that can be used to falsify it."

The value of stolen credit card numbers diminishes each day after a data breach becomes known because users and bank-card issuers typically step up monitoring. Sony, which was attacked between April 16 and April 19, said it had encrypted customers' credit card numbers with security that would make codes difficult to read by hackers who penetrated the system.

"There is no evidence that our main credit card database was compromised," Sony said in a statement to its users. "It is in a completely separate and secured environment."

The best sign that Sony's assertion is true may be the passage of two weeks without reports from credit card issuers of wide-scale fraud, according to an FBI cyber-crime investigator who asked not to be named because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press.

As more days go by, it's less likely card numbers were stolen or, if they were, that potential losses will be large, the person said.

The FBI's San Diego office is investigating the matter, said agent Darrell Foxworth, a spokesman for the office.

Sony said Monday that the attack on its PlayStation Network and Qriocity online music and film service in mid-April also gave hackers access to data from Sony Online Entertainment, a separate unit that makes role-playing games. Hackers gained access to 23,400 credit card and debit records from non-U.S. customers and the personal account information of 24.6 million account holders.

The company shut down its online-gaming service Sunday night after a hacker infiltrated the network just weeks after the first breach. Sony said it expected online services to be fully restored by the end of May.

The disclosure that a third service was compromised came a day after top Sony executives offered a public apology and said they had no evidence a separate 10 million credit card numbers registered to PlayStation Network and Qriocity had been stolen in the attacks.

"We have to regain the trust and confidence of our users," Kazuo Hirai, Sony's executive deputy president in charge of consumer products and network services, said Sunday at a Tokyo press conference.

Hackers exploited a known security vulnerability to gain access to 77 million PlayStation Network and Qriocity user names, addresses, gender, birth dates and other information, Sony said. It wasn't clear from the statement how many of the 24.6 million accounts in the newly reported breach share duplicate user information.

The financial impact Sony faces depends on how well the company convinces customers it "will make things right," Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. He estimates credit card fraud, repairs to its networks and marketing costs will amount to $50 million.

"There will be a hit if in fact they see their business dip," Pachter said. "I'd say $50 million, not $24 billion, and I think Sony can handle $50 million."

The breach of Sony Online Entertainment exposed information from an outdated 2007 database, including about 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates, Sony said Monday. The credit card information didn't include security codes, the company said. The three- and four-digit codes are used as a second source of authentication for many online vendors.



Source: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F05%2F03%2FBUI41JB95L.DTL#ixzz1LRl5QyNU

[jtaylor83]

Awe Tartersauce

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

My current feelings!




----------------------------

Regrettably SOE services are still offline and will remain so the rest of the day. We are working as quickly as possible to resolve this issue and appreciate your patience.

Source: www.facebook.com/#!/DCUniverseOnline

Source: www.facebook.com/#!/SOE

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

So it looks like no luck for this weekend at all.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------

We wanted to let you know that our games will not be up this weekend. We are working around the clock to get our services back up and running soon. Thank you for your continued patience and support.

Source: www.facebook.com/browse/?type=favorite_pages&page_id=122577587780984#!/DCUniverseOnline
Source: www.facebook.com/SOE

[skarlet]

true, steam is having great sales though so keep an eye out for those. Soar I beat RFG. I loved it. I also loved your small voice over work you did in EOS I'm currently pre loading Brink so in case DCUO is down I have that to look forward to next week. And I just started Mass Effect for the first time

[kaiki]

Mass Effect 2 is sooooo much better then Mass Effect. So if you dont really feel Mass Effect 1, give 2 a try

[skarlet]

Nice. Im loving ME right now, so I can wait to play ME2. I made my female shepard really fugly though, but oh well

[kaiki]

May 7, 2011 12:23:18 GMT -5 skarlet said:

Nice. Im loving ME right now, so I can wait to play ME2. I made my female shepard really fugly though, but oh well

You get the chance to fix it in ME2 XD

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

It sounds more and more like we're offline until late May, at best.
---------------------------------
By Sam Mamudi, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Sony Corp., already facing the wrath of millions of video game players after security breaches and a prolonged suspension of its online gaming service, admitted Friday that it’s likely to miss its own deadline for restoring the PlayStation Network.

PlayStation Network, which connects 77 million gamers, has been down since April 20. The network had been hacked and tens of millions of customers’ personal information was compromised.

Sony /quotes/comstock/13*!sne/quotes/nls/sne SNE +0.29% was already under fire because the Japanese electronics company waited for six days following the services suspension before admitting its systems had been hacked. Chairman Howard Stringer on Thursday apologized for Sony’s handling of the matter, and offered a range of benefits to users once the system is back up.

But while the company on Sunday said it would restart PlayStation Network within the week, on Friday it changed its position.

“[When making the May 1 announcement] we were unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers, and we are taking this opportunity to conduct further testing of the incredibly complex system,” said Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications, in a blog post on Friday.

“We know many of you are wanting to play games online, chat with your friends and enjoy all of the services PlayStation Network and Qriocity services have to offer, and trust me when I say we’re doing everything we can to make it happen” added Seybold. “We will update you with more information as soon as we have it. We apologize for the delay and inconvenience of this network outage.” Read the blog post here.

A Sony spokesman told The Wall Street Journal on Saturday a full system reboot would take until the end of the month, and declined to say when the system would be back online.
/quotes/comstock/13*!sne/quotes/nls/sne Add SNE to portfolio SNE Sony Corp $ 28.06 +0.08 +0.29% Volume: 1.10MMay 6, 2011 4:04p
Sam Mamudi is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York




Source: www.marketwatch.com/story/sony-delays-restart-of-game-network-2011-05-07?siteid=yhoof

[Kallark & Stark Cold]

SOE/DCUO attacked by Anonymous?
------------------------------
Hackers Say Anonymous Likely Responsible For Sony Attacks
by Tom Curtis

May 6, 2011

Two veterans of Anonymous have claimed that members of the infamous hacker group are most likely responsible for the recent Sony security breaches, despite the group's public denials.

Speaking to the Financial Times, one Anonymous member said he saw crucial details about vulnerabilities in Sony's network discussed in one of the group's chatrooms just before the security breach.

The Anonymous veteran said that the perpetrator supports the group's OpSony movement, which previously turned its gaze toward Sony when the company filed lawsuits against hackers George "GeoHot" Hotz and Alexander "Graf_Chokolo" Egorenkov.

Another member said that other individuals could be responsible for the Sony attacks, since public accountability most often falls onto the group itself rather than its specific members.

"If you say you are Anonymous, and do something as Anonymous, then Anonymous did it," the hacker said to the Financial Times. "Just because the rest of Anonymous might not agree with it, doesn’t mean Anonymous didn’t do it."

Another member said, "So it’s Anon’s work. But you can’t blame the whole collective for what one or two guys do."

Earlier this week, Anonymous issued a press release denying its involvement in the Sony security leaks, saying, "We are trying to fight criminal activities by corporations and governments, not steal credit cards."


Source: www.gamasutra.com/view/news/34550/Hackers_Say_Anonymous_Likely_Responsible_For_Sony_Attacks.php