PlayStation Network went down on Wednesday April 20th, 2011 as a result of “external intrusion” that prompted Sony to take down the service. As many have feared, the problem was worse than just malfunctions.
From PlayStation.com:
We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have:
- Temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services
- Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened
- Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure by re-building our system to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.
We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
According to official statement from Sony, an authorized person managed to obtain information provided by PlayStation Network users including:
- Name
- Address
- Email address
- Birthdate
- PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers
Sony also added that user’s credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date might have been compromised.
Sony has suspended PlayStation Network indefinitely.
The group Anonymous stated that they had nothing to do with the breach nor the outage.