940°

An Important Message From Sony’s Chief Information Security Officer

Via the PlayStation Blog: "We want to let you know that we have detected attempts on Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment (“Networks”) services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against our network database. These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources. In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks. We have taken steps to mitigate the activity."

Read Full Story >>
blog.us.playstation.com
Dart894583d ago

Well you know what's coming next especially on N4G.
*Holds on to a pole*.

Misterhbk4583d ago

Oh boy this is gonna get hot lol. Well Sony is doing the right thing by bringing the situation to consumers attention but I don't think this is as big as before. Seeks like they're just trying to hack people's accounts rather than actually attack the network.

In other words, if you didnt change your password yet do so immediately just to be safe.

Washington-Capitals4583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

I really dislike when people do the whole "grabbing flame suit, going to get hot" etc.

Why the f@c$ did you comment in the first place, once you read the article you should have just closed the tab if you think people are going to troll/flame

ON TOPIC, this is something to keep an eye on, but i dont think we consumers should have to worry. Not until Sony actually tells us to do something.

SilentNegotiator4583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

"These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources. In this case, given that the data tested against our network consisted of sign-in ID-password pairs, and that the overwhelming majority of the pairs resulted in failed matching attempts, it is likely the data came from another source and not from our Networks. We have taken steps to mitigate the activity"
-
So PSN has NOT been hacked, nor really even "attacked". Sony detected people trying to use incorrect data in a way that suggested that they were trying to access other people's accounts.

"where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts. Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked"
-
So they stopped the intruders before they could hardly do anything at all.

These frauds aren't hackers.

Sony caught suspicious activity, locked the accounts that the frauds accessed before they did hardly anything, and it affected less than 1%.

Sony did good.

-Alpha4583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

Doesn't even sound like Sony's responsibility if what this guy on IGN said is correct:

"Someone stole a list of usernames/passwords from some other source (forum, website, service, ect.) they then used those usernames/passwords to try to get into PSN accounts that have those same usernames/passwords."

I don't even know why Sony bothered to do this, it will only bring up negative attention and cause further confusion

zeeshan4583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

I highly disagree Alpha. I think SONY did the right thing by telling what's happening so if anybody is stupid enough (and believe me, there are more than enough of these idiots out there) who have the same password for multiple accounts on different services using the same password then they should immediately change their passwords.

Knowing is ALWAYS better than not knowing. You can at least start taking precautionary steps instead of being in dark only to find out about some sort of financial/privacy disaster. So stop trying to make it look like Sony's fault for letting everyone know the truth Alpha.

Jonah_Reese4583d ago

It's nice that Sony did this, keeping it's consumers in the loop however, they need to realize one thing, a lot of their consumers aren't that smart and they'll take a statement like "eh, we're good, some folks used their passwords wrong and could access anything" and interpret it as "Oh shit, It's another attack; RUN!". Basically what I'm saying is they need to break things down so it isn't misunderstood.

andibandit4583d ago

I dont know, after their last withholding of info, im kinda reading a paranoid
"That was the good news"
sentence in my head.

iamnsuperman4582d ago

@Alpha
"I don't even know why Sony bothered to do this, it will only bring up negative attention and cause further confusion"

True but if they didn't and some how this "event" got out it probably would be ten times worst. I know this is no hack but there are a lot of dumb people out their that see things in a much more paranoid light.

morganfell4582d ago (Edited 4582d ago )

It is no more complicated than assuming some gamers will use the same usernames and passwords for a gaming website owned by a third party that they would use for their Sony accounts.

Since this wasn't even a hacking attempt and seems a bit amateurish, I wonder how careful these persons making the attempt were to cover their tracks, hide their IP and prevent a back trace. After all, what they were doing is, under US law, a felony.

stevenhiggster4582d ago (Edited 4582d ago )

It could even have been from this site, my user name here is the same as my PSN ID, but my password most certainly is not.

EDIT: Just thought about it, your PSN ID is not your log in ID though, doh.

DragonKnight4582d ago

@Alpha: Sony did this because of all the fanboys who made mountains out of molehills when Sony didn't "talk soon enough" when PSN got hacked. All the FUD and misinformation spread by hate mongers and pseudo-journalists is why Sony did this. Guaranteed that if they hadn't said anything, and some site like Kotaku found out, the headlines would read something like "PSN Hacked again, Sony silent again" and we'd have an entire month of B.S. from people incapable of using common sense and critical thinking.

Karum4582d ago

Sony will have done this because they lost a lot of consumer confidence over the hack on PSN.

This announcement is to try and regain trust by saying "Hey, we've detected people trying to get illegal access to PSN accounts (though they didn't get people's details from us) but our improved security has caught this and we've stopped it, if you're effected we've let you know and if you reset your details you can get back in, oh and wise yourself up and stop using the same login information for every online service in your life".

Personally I think it was a good move from Sony as it shows they are on top of security.

taylork374582d ago (Edited 4582d ago )

@DragonKnight

Lets get one thing straight... Sony getting hacked was not the problem last time (although after being down for that long it kinda was), it was the fact that they didn't notify anyone even thought they were not sure 100% of the user data was safe.

You can be a fanboy and make a molehill out of a mountain, so to speak, but that is a pretty big deal.

Keep burying your head in the sand, but as a PS3 owner I was not happy.

DragonKnight4582d ago

@taylor: Let's get a real thing straight. Coming out and giving inaccurate and incomplete information would have been suicide for Sony. They did notify everyone that they took PSN down, it just wasn't good enough for people who always want to crucify for the smallest thing. It is the obligation of anyone providing a service to have accurate, detailed information when they have to halt that service to give to the consumer. It protects the service provider from frivolous lawsuits and protects the consumer from taking rash, unneeded actions.

They sent out the emails as a PRECAUTION in case they were wrong about their security protecting CC# and passwords. But had they come out and said, WITHOUT CONFIRMATION, that everyone's accounts were at risk from the hackers, it would spread mass panic and made CC companies backed up for days with phone calls from people cancelling cards, etc..

Sony did the CORRECT thing by waiting until they had actual confirmed information to give people, and they took the right precautions to cover any contingency.

Passwords and CC#s were encrypted, there is NO fault on Sony's end. I am a PS3 owner as well, i was fine when PSN went down because, thankfully, I'm not a multiplayer zombie from this gen and have been gaming on single player games for longer than online gaming has been around. Yeah it sucked that PSN was down, but it could have been MUCH worse if Sony had come out with unverified information just for the sake of saying something and giving the witch hunting fanboys a reason to burn them at the stake.

Kleptic4582d ago (Edited 4582d ago )

stevenhiggster:

That may not matter though...Most forums, websites, etc. that require a log in use an email account to authenticate it...which is generally used as a primary key for the database of users...but they also force users to have different 'names' as to not confuse the community with multiple handles...

but as far as DB management goes from some lesser sites...all that is usually in one table...and if somebody gets ahold of that table, they have the email account, account name, and password all in one place connected tree...sometimes even names and address's (although most websites stopped requiring stuff like that)

the password at least should be encrypted, but its not always (i.e what happened months ago with someone forgetting to encrypt credit card info...derp)...if you get that table, you can easily link those 3 parameters and try to bomb the PSN with it seeing if you can get in on any number of accounts...as if they stole 'kleptic' from some other source, in which i used the same email address to authenticate it as I did for the PSN...they have all the information they would need if i in fact had the same password...anyone with experience in DB management could build a macro to plug and play those things all day...

doing it is the easy part...getting away with it is much more difficult...apparently anyway, as at least this attempt raised flags...

Gothdom4582d ago

I don't see the problem since Sony prevented the problem and those who are affected should read this part:

"As a preventative measure, we are requiring secure password resets for those PSN/SEN accounts that had both a sign-in ID and password match through this attempt. If you are in the small group of PSN/SEN users who may have been affected, you will receive an email from us at the address associated with your account that will prompt you to reset your password. "

+ Show (13) more repliesLast reply 4582d ago
M-Easy4583d ago

Don't forget the flamesuit and popcorn. Its gon get in here.

kaveti66164583d ago

Don't forget the suit that guards against the usage of really bad jokes over and over again...

TheComedian4582d ago

And how are you going to eat the popcorn through the suit?Huh come on tell me.How are you going to do that?TELL ME ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Persistantthug4583d ago

Does anyone remember where he came from?

Lavitz20124583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

Yes and he is the U.S Homeland security Boss.
http://youtu.be/X8bHZQbdCrg

MrBeatdown4583d ago

@youngkingdoran

*reads PS Blog*

I never asked for this...

BrianC62344583d ago

I hope people are smart enough to see Sony hasn't been hacked. This is just an idiot or idiots trying to use names and passwords they got from another site to log into accounts. I was listening to a radio station a little while ago and on the news they reported it as Sony said they've been hacked again. Get the facts right. Any site can be hit like this now. These guys probably try logging into a lot of sites like this. Sony just knows what to watch for now.

DragonKnight4582d ago

Thanks for posting this. You've proven my earlier point about pseudo-journalists trying to say Sony got hacked again.

BabyCarlos4582d ago

Especially here in Germany where we only have four or five agencys who write the articles for every darned news station I hate to hear everywhere people complaining about Sony got hacked, when in fact, there hasn't been a hack!

MrBeatdown4582d ago

Yup, I noticed the same thing watching the news last night.

"Hacked," "hacked," "hacked," but absolutely no mention of the fact that emails and passwords were obtained from another source.

CryofSilence4582d ago

To hackers,

We get it. It's sad that you can only get your rocks off by hacking (likely because you are so socially inadequate that you can't be with even the homeliest of women). This isn't proving any romantic ideals or damaging the company; it's only potentially harming those who will feed you to the wolves the moment you try to ally yourselves with them.

Find a new pass-time that won't lead to your incarceration. Legos are a good alternative. You can even stage your own robbery heist scenarios (and blow up the building for good measure)!

jerethdagryphon4582d ago

this isnt a psn secuirity thing this is a brute force attempt sonys security is intact .

best of luck to anyone affected

4582d ago
+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4582d ago
SilentNegotiator4583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

There are no hackers. Please read the article before spreading this crap.

Suspicious use of passwords (of which didn't work for all accounts) on a large scale prompted Sony to lock said accounts temporarily and temporarily shut off PSN whilst they investigate. And as they said, signs point to it NOT being information from Sony's servers.

They aren't hackers, they aren't DDoS attackers...they're fraudulently-gained info-packers.

PSN is even up and running RIGHT NOW. At least here in the central-US it is.
I'm even downloading my free (PS+) copy of Costume Quest ('Double Fine' game).

yesmynameissumo4583d ago

Glad their security enhancements appear to actually to be working.

BrianC62344583d ago

I think any site should be able to see this kind of attack. A simple server in an office would report someone entering the wrong password too many times. If you get a report saying it happened hundreds or thousands of times you'd know something is going on.

WhiteLightning4583d ago (Edited 4583d ago )

Are they still at it....I mean really, what are hackers going to get out of this. They've lost, they're being hunted one by one and over time, slowly, they'll get arrested like the rest of their so called "family"

But really....near the holidays, the biggest time for games and gamers.

Honestly Sony have done nothing but give and give this year towards gamers and yet there the ones who always seem to get treat like crap.

Inception4583d ago

"I mean really, what are hackers going to get out of this"

well, for some cheap adrenaline maybe?
and i don't believe they did this if someone not give them money

or like Alfred said in TDK "Some men aren't looking for anything logical like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." *lol, i watched TDK too much*

WhiteLightning4583d ago

lol

User name Inception, watches the TDK alot........Nolan fan by any chance :)

But yeah good points, very well made

Silly gameAr4583d ago

It looks like the security upgrades are paying off.

Show all comments (112)
150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers3d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken3d ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g3d ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing3d ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H93d ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola3d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6693d ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle3d ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

Show all comments (14)
130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg4d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos4d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola3d ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

Show all comments (8)
280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies24d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken24d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga24d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken24d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6424d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long24d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197224d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic23d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 23d ago
DivineHand12524d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91324d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer24d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit24d ago (Edited 24d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91323d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit23d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 23d ago
Christopher24d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6923d ago (Edited 23d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit23d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal24d ago (Edited 24d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher24d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken24d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197223d ago (Edited 23d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic23d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2324d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218324d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit23d ago (Edited 23d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder24d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts24d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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