Patterico's Pontifications

4/26/2011

PSA: Playstation Network Intrusion May Have Compromised Personal Information

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 2:12 pm



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.  Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

Update: And politicians are getting involved.  Sigh.

Update (II): IGN has some tips on protecting yourself.

You might have heard a few jokes about it here and there in the comments, but the Playstation Network, that is the computer network that allows gamers to play online, download games, etc., has been down.  Now, via IGN we get word that it was not only the result of hackers, more or less, but that personal information might have been compromised, specifically:

– Name

– Address (city, state, zip)

– Country

– Email Address

– Birthdate

– PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID

And they aren’t ruling out any credit card information being compromised, too.  You should bluntly take steps to protect yourself.

You can read all about it, here.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

23 Responses to “PSA: Playstation Network Intrusion May Have Compromised Personal Information”

  1. I am having Black Ops withdrawls!!!

    The house is clean, laundry is all done and I caught up with the first 4 episodes of the Camelot mini-series on Starz too.

    I actually had to TALK to my teenage son this weekend, weird!!

    There is a life without PSN, it just isn’t as much fun as fragging your friends online!!!

    On a more serious note I am concerned with my info being accessed. But I am more worried about the ability of Sony to guard against these intrusions in the future, so the wait is worth it!!

    What do you expect for free!!

    SacTownMan (0a0272)

  2. http://www.vg247.com/2011/02/17/rumor-hacker-claims-credit-card-information-sent-to-sony-through-psn-is-unencrypted/

    PSN has recently been exposed as having MAJOR vulnerabilities with it’s network. They store unencrypted personal data on the HD, transmit unencrypted credit card information, and basically have a whole host of vulnerabilities in the fact that the system and network were not built to keep out those who would hack it. Maybe this could be because the parent company is not American, so they have trouble designing something that would keep Americans out? I just can’t imagine this happening in Japan: like some kind of porting issues with the security protocols.

    xman (433032)

  3. Breaking Tragedy!!!
    Teleprompter inventor ‘Hub’ Schlafly dies at 91
    From Associated Press
    April 26, 2011 6:28 PM EDT
    HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Hubert “Hub” Schlafly, a key member of the team that invented the teleprompter and rescued decades’ worth of soap opera actors, newscasters and politicians from the embarrassment of stumbling over their words on live television, has died. He was 91.

    — The president could not be reached for comment, as the TOTUS was too upset over its loss to tell him what to say.

    Icy Texan (fb7f2c)

  4. Sac

    > What do you expect for free!!

    i will dispute that last part. it wasn’t free. i paid for it when i bought my ps3.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  5. Notice how the liberals don’t believe in freedom anymore unlike classical liberials?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  6. The covert racisms exhibited in this thread are remarkable. Big median will get the vapors.

    JD (318f81)

  7. i paid for it when i bought my ps3.

    Yeah, but unlike XBL, it doesn’t have it’s own income stream. It relies on funds gathers through hardware and software sales. XBL takes in a LOT of money in subscriptions, allowing them to have in-house management of the service (actual MS/XBL employees both run and maintain the servers and police the service), whereas PSN is run by a 3rd party.

    Though to be honest, anyone who wasn’t at least partially brain-dead suspected that personal data was compromised the second it became clear that PSN had been completely pulled offline without a single moment’s warning.

    Scott Jacobs (176843)

  8. Jeez, what is it with you perpetual juveniles and your Play Stations?

    When I play video games, I do it on a P.C., like a grown-up!

    Dave Surls (92f486)

  9. Dave #8 – stop being so surl(s)y !

    We encourage the young to play games on PlayStations so that, when they mature, they can become worthy opponents for real gamers !

    (*NOW*, /me *mallards*, grinning)

    Alasdair (e7cb73)

  10. You perpetual juveniles?

    Alright that’s it i’am gonna al sharpton 😀

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  11. scott

    i think of it like this.

    around 9 years ago, i bought a tivo. now with a tivo you have to buy the box and then the “service” which is access to program data. you can do it two ways.

    1) you can pay a certain amount per month or
    2) you pay a one time lump fee.

    i don’t remember how much either was when i bought it, because i went with #2 and therefore i haven’t had to think about it in 9 years.

    the way i see it, when a bought my playstation it was like paying that lump fee for the tivo service. i did indeed pay for it.

    But of course if sony doesn’t see it that way, then that would justify all kinds of crap.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  12. What cracks me up is guys like my buddy, who has five or six networked machines in his house, several servers with hundreds of terabytes of data storage, gigantic VDTs that take up a whole wall, and what does he do with it all?

    Sits around playing computer solitaire.

    What’s up with that?

    Dave Surls (92f486)

  13. I heart our Kinect. Playing it on the 120″ projection is sweet.

    JD (318f81)

  14. DS #14 – perhcance your buddy has found a way to only play at his own skill range …

    Of course, another name for what you describe is “overcompensation”, is it not ? Does he also have a Ferrari Testosterone ?

    Alasdair (62a8bf)

  15. Benito Mussolini was a conservative fascist?

    DohBiden (15aa57)

  16. JD, it’s hard to see how Kinect on a 120″ screen can’t be totally awesome.

    But we’re a PS3 house and we sure have loved it. It’s a huge shame that this problem has occurred, but I’m pretty sure credit card information is not transmitted unencrypted. That’s not to say it’s hacker proof, but it’s not transmitted unencrypted last time I checked.

    I agree that Sony has to inform PSN users as soon as they are aware their data was compromised.

    Also, plenty of PSN users pay a monthly fee for PSN+. It’s just that free PSN services are dramatically superior to the free level of XBOX Live (silver).

    Honestly, I don’t think the fee had anything to do with it. If enough losers tried, I’m sure XBOX Live would face a vulnerability. I mean… it’s Microsoft after all. They make Windows and Internet Explorer.

    “Maybe this could be because the parent company is not American, so they have trouble designing something that would keep Americans out? ”

    I doubt that, Xman, I’m pretty sure Microsoft’s stuff is found to be vulnerable all the time too. I’m not sure why the Xbox bannings of pirates didn’t attract the ire of hackers like Sony’s has, but Sony’s always been falling on its face with the technically inclined community (rootkits, for example).

    Sony just sent me an email claiming that my credit card information may have been obtained, so I guess that’s all there is to say.

    However, if this is the case, I’m glad Sony knocked down the PSN. It’s the least bad option. I hope they get it fixed quickly, but more importantly, I hope they bring the people responsible to justice. Honestly, I don’t spend a huge amount of time using my PS3, but it’s still playing games and Netflix just fine (I learned that if you try to login twice, Netflix will load despite the error message).

    I do think Sony has egg on their face over the way they have managed information over this problem.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  17. Dustin – HD sports are even better.

    Anyone want to buy a high compression 8″ powered subwoofer, 1000 watts.

    JD (318f81)

  18. Also, there’s really no reason why someone shouldn’t have a 360 or anything. I just don’t need more than one console. I have a PC under the TV, but even that is really not needed.

    I can imagine that many people are getting very frustrated with Sony right now. Let’s hope they get it together.

    Dustin (c16eca)

  19. And in one of life’s most unwanted ironies chuckles the demented 58 year old master baiter is breathing a sigh of relief he didn’t go on PSN because it would expose his private life to the world.

    DohBiden (15aa57)


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