Spokesperson Shigenori Yoshida said it plans to fully restore service by the end of the month. Company wants to ensure complete integrity of the system.
The Sony PlayStation Network has been down for almost 3 weeks now, and according to a report it appears that users will have to wait three weeks more.
The PSN network was shuttered April 20th after it was discovered that hackers had breached the network’s security, and that over 70 million accounts may have been comprised – including credit card information.
Sony said a week ago that some services would soon be available, but it decided to delay the move in order to ensure system security which it says is "vital for the process of restoration."
"Additional comprehensive system checks and testing are still required, and we must complete that process before bringing the systems online," it says.
According to spokesperson Shigenori Yoshida, it now plans to fully restore PSN services by May 31st.
Sony has already announced a "Welcome Back" program for affected users to ”thank its customers for their patience and loyalty.” It includes a combination of free entertainment and service offerings as well as 30 days of free PlayStation Plus premium service for existing PlayStation Network customers. It’s also offered a year’s worth of identity theft protection.
In the meantime, Sony so far faces at least three class-action lawsuits. The first two, both filed in California courtrooms, accuse Sony of negligence for allowing a breach to occur in the first place, and for falling to inform users in a timely manner after it occurred. The third alleges breach of privacy.
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Says personal information from approximately 24.6 million subscribers to its PC games network may have been stolen, as well as “certain information from an outdated database from 2007.”
As if hacker intrusion into Sony’s PlayStation network wasn’t enough, the company announced yesterday that the Sony Online Entertainment PC games network was also compromised. Today Sony said the hackers may have stolen customer information on 24.6 million subscribers.
“This information, which was discovered by engineers and security consultants reviewing SOE systems, showed that personal information from approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts may have been stolen, as well as certain information from an outdated database from 2007,” says the company in a press release. “The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.”
So what kind of info have the hackers obtained? It includes:
* name
* address
* e-mail address
* birthdate
* gender
* phone number
* login name
* hashed password.
However, those “unlucky” enough to reside in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain, the 10,700 direct debit records also detail:
* bank account number
* customer name
* account name
* customer address.
SOE says it plans to give affected customers 30 days of free additional time on their subscriptions as well as one free additional day for each day the system is down.
Sony said second of May that some of its PlayStation network services will go back online sometime this week, and that it plans to implement a “Welcome Back” program to try and heal the rift caused by allowing hackers to compromise the credit card information of 70-77 million PSN network customers.