Sony will resume some PlayStation Network services and beef up its security nearly two weeks after a hacker attack forced Sony to shut it down. The company made the announcements during a press conference in Tokyo. Kaz Hirai, Sony's executive deputy president and the likely successor to CEO Howard Stringer, started by offering "our deepest and sincerest apologies" for the outage of the PlayStation network, as well as apologizing to customers whose personal information has been compromised. Hirai and two other Sony executives bowed deeply, a Japanese custom for apologizing.

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Hirai confirmed that lots of users account information was stolen as the result of a hacker attack that has forced Sony to shut down PSN and Qriocity services for the last two weeks. Sony says that it was first alerted to the attack on April 20 and has been working with authorities and two security firms to investigate.

"This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers but our entire industry," Hirai said. "These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security."

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The big question though is whether or not credit card data was stolen, a possibility that has raised questions from the U.S. Congress. Hirai and two other Sony executives repeatedly asserted that they have found "no evidence" that credit card data or billing information has been stolen. Hirai wouldn't rule out the possibility, however, which likely explains why Sony is asking customers to check their credit card statements just in case.

To prevent an attack like this one from happening again, Sony says it has moved PSN and Qrioicity services to a new data center and implemented new security measures, including additional firewalls, enhanced encryption and automated software monitoring. The company has also created a new position: Chief Information Security Officer, a senior executive who will report to Sony Chief Information Officer Shinji Hasejima. In addition, Sony will require all users to change their passwords, but with additional security measures to verify identity.

Sony says it will resume some PlayStation Network services in the next week as a result. This includes restoration of online gameplay, Qriocity music services, friend lists, chat functionality and movie rental services. It is also launching a "Welcome Back" campaign as an apology to users for what has transpired. Sony is offering affected users a 30-day subscription to PlayStation Plus and some free software downloads. Qriocity customers will be receiving 30 additional days of service for free.

Sony should compensate their customers. They should, at the very least, give everyone with an account $20 credit at the Playstation store.

Sony offline and Bin Laden dead...? Coincidence...?

OSAMA BIN LADEN KILLED

REASON WHY;

he was probably playin ps3 in that mansion and got mad the network was down so he called sony and that gave up his location

Quote Originally Posted by IlliniBill:

Barack, or Bin Laden??

I heard it was a grenade, bad time for Osama to be rollin with no Flack Jacket...

It's amazing how many times I've seen people mistake Obama and Osama.

And, apparently, they shot a predator missile on the mansion and went running in with death machines.

And lag was the reason why they announced his death a week later.

That's what I'm hoping.  heard the same and at work so wasn't sure.