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Sony has begun its attempt to win back the trust of gamers worldwide after the PlayStation Network security breach – which led to the service being taken offline and the personal information of millions of gamers finding its way into the hands of hackers – with top executives apologising for the outage at a Tokyo press conference this morning.
The platform holder will begin by “offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download” depending on region, with information about availability to be published “soon.”
All existing PSN users will also recieve a complimentary 30 days of the PlayStation Plus service, with current subscribers (and subscribers of music streaming service Qriocity) recieving 30 days of credit.
There is also the promise of additional “entertainment and service offerings” over the coming weeks.
When will you be able to finally get back onto PlayStation Network, though? Sony confirmed the service would be returning in a limited capacity this week, without the PlayStation Store but with online play, download and account management, PlayStation Home, Friends lists, and chat functionality. Full service is expected to resume within a “month.”
Users will be forced to download a PS3 system update and change their passwords to get back on PSN when it returns. The password can only be changed on the PS3 it was originally activated on, or through a validated e-mail address.
Sony has also detailed some of PSN’s strengthened security measures in the wake of the “external intrustion” which catapulted the service into the headlines and has left gamers unable to access online services for almost two weeks. These include:
• Added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks
• Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption
• Enhanced ability to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns
• Implementation of additional firewalls
“These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security,” said Sony executive deputy president Kazuo Hirai, adding that Sony “take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data.”
Sony is conducting an investigation, and working with law enforcement, in an effort to locate the people responsible for the hack.
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