Please see below for a letter from Howard Stringer:
Dear Friends,
I know this has been a frustrating time for all of you.
Let me assure you that the resources of this company have been focused on investigating the entire nature and impact of the cyber-attack we’ve all experienced and on fixing it. We are absolutely dedicated to restoring full and safe service as soon as possible and rewarding you for your patience. We will settle for nothing less.
To date, there is no confirmed evidence any credit card or personal information has been misused, and we continue to monitor the situation closely. We are also moving ahead with plans to help protect our customers from identity theft around the world. A program for U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers that includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user was launched earlier today and announcements for other regions will be coming soon.
As we have announced, we will be offering a “Welcome Back” package to our customers once our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services are up and running. This will include, among other benefits, a month of free PlayStation Plus membership for all PSN customers, as well as an extension of subscriptions for PlayStation Plus and Music Unlimited customers to make up for time lost.
As a company we — and I — apologize for the inconvenience and concern caused by this attack. Under the leadership of Kazuo Hirai, we have teams working around the clock and around the world to restore your access to those services as quickly, and as safely, as possible.
I know some believe we should have notified our customers earlier than we did. It’s a fair question. As soon as we discovered the potential scope of the intrusion, we shut down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and hired some of the best technical experts in the field to determine what happened. I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process. Hackers, after all, do their best to cover their tracks, and it took some time for our experts to find those tracks and begin to identify what personal information had — or had not — been taken.
As a result of what we discovered we notified you of the breach. Our investigation is ongoing, and we are upgrading our security so that if attacks like this happen again, our defenses will be even stronger.
In the last few months, Sony has faced a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But now we are facing a very man-made event – a criminal attack on us — and on you — and we are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible.
In the coming days, we will restore service to the networks and welcome you back to the fun. I wanted to personally reach out and let you know that we are committed to serving you to the very best of our ability, protecting your information better than ever, and getting you back to what you signed up for – all the games and great entertainment experiences that you expect from Sony.
With best regards,
Howard Stringer
Sony sure is doing a great job to fix this mess. I just hope the hacker or hackers are caught and get a lot of prison time. This crime is a lot bigger than a normal bank robbery. We need to create new laws that make sure crimes like this have long prison sentences. This one deserves 25 years. And make the hackers pay back whatever the company lost. They can’t get out of prison until they do. That would for sure get them locked up forever.
good luck getting it back on by monday as if thats gonna happen [DELETED] this
Rubbish, this isn’t from the real Howard Stringer. If it was real letter from Stringer, the writing would be in cursive.
Rubbish, this isn’t a letter from Howie. A letter from him would be in cursive handwriting.
Sony Playstation Forever!
Apology accepted! Now release the kraken! :)
EVERYBODY DO THE SAFETY DANCE!
That was a nice letter. Though i myself feel frustrated, and can echo others when they ask, “When will it be back up?” I can, at least partially, now began to understand the headache, and probably legal nightmare, they’ve been going through. I for one once considered getting a different system, once i discovered this outage was going to be a long time. But i realized two things. One, if you are really worried about your info, once PSN is back up, Sony is kind enough to offer the ability to delete your credit card info and simply buy pre-paid PSN cards at places like gamestop, and two I love the PS3!, The XBOX 360 simply doesn’t offer the games nor features I want. I’ve heard someone on one of these posts say that this service, PSN in general, is free, so it it is only natural we should expect occasional things like this to happen, I whole heartedlily agree. I for one, am excited to play Front Mission Evolved on PSN once it is rebuilt and up and running securely, keep at it Sony, You do have some loyal fans!
I kinda feel sorry for the people at Sucker Punch, the people that were in the Infamous 2 beta don’t get to give them the feedback they need to improve the online creation experience. With the game a month away I’d hate for them to release the game with bugs due to not getting feedback from testers. Hopefully it isn’t delayed either.
I am just worried I spent a bit on those packages especially the mlb pack how is the mlb at bat going to be handled .
Funny but the longer PSN is down the less complaining you get on here seems like ppl are giving up
People aren’t complaining as much because their either done or are almost done going through the video game detox stage… we are all addicts haha
and this is really just one giant intervention!!!! :P
There was a question in Who Howard is.. here it is Howard Stringer, chief executive and president of Sony Corporation I guess some here didn’t know that.
Howard is a CEO at Sony. is either equal to or greater then Jack
Awesome! cant wait till PSN is back up and stronger than ever. not to mention how http://www.freepsnstorecodes.com is giving out free psn codes as a gift for the long wait! thanks
There’s also a nasty rumor circulating that Sony could face attack number three this weekend .
I’m not sure what’s more vexing–that Sony Online Entertainment, the PSN, and Qriocity services remain down, or that a bunch of philosophically sophomoric reprobates keep popping up threatening to do greater harm.
Just as the corporate relaunch rhetoric’s shifted to “almost ready,” there’s word new hacker attacks may be imminent. CNET claims someone tapped into an underground Internet Relay Chat channel and noticed hacker rumbling about a “third major attack” against Sony’s web site (presumably they mean Sony.com) this weekend. Here’s the disturbing part: according to CNET’s source, the hackers already have access to Sony’s servers.
How the heck can they have access already? Sony said they found a file, but to go in while it is under investigation? I think that them “Already having access” is a ploy and not true. But then again… I have seen the impossible take place before.
There is yet a third attack planned??And “They” are stating that “they” already have “Access” to the new servers”?
Ok these people either have some (I won’t comment) or??? Man I am angry at Sony But even I know it is wrong to do this kind of thing. I guess Sony is going to have there new Security tested.
I can see this working for a plus on Sony or a Negative on Sony. the Plus would be that Sony have learned there lesson and things go fine or the negative means that they spent all this time on there new OS and well, didn’t learn there lesson.
oh the Source cam from PC world Magazine. and Cnet
Sony’s PlayStation Network and Qriocity servers were apparently running obsolete, unpatched software, and had no firewall in place, both no-nos for any company, but definitely for a company as large as Sony, trying to run a cloud-based service.
The “oversights” were “reported in an open forum monitored by Sony employees” two to three months prior to the recent security breaches of Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) and Qriocity services. Despite that, the warnings went unheeded.
Yeah, I read that, thus I deleted my credit card info before the attack.
Source : Hothardware…
I think a few blasted the OP stating it would never happen.
Well I’ll be a……Sony You have many Questions that You Must be held accountable for.
My thought is that is Sony didn’t use a fire wall, that in its self very Conceited and very foolish. I don’t care how much security went into the PS3 from being hacked. I would have much preferred that our data would have remained Secure first you could have deal with all the other OS issues later.This means that you Sony Created all these patches and updates to the console with out regards to our safety, In other words you, Placed you needs above our Own. You created the reason for the removal of the Other OS and a great deal of other things.
CERIAS Invited you to a hearing and you declined it? That is arrogance beyond arrogance.
You Basically told them to “Talk to the Hand” and among other things. You, Sony dear sirs need to hear the inputs of all that have to say. It would do you well to listen to them and to attend a hearing when requested of you. failing to show up means that to me you have something to hide.
Thanks Mr. Stringer. Take down the hackers! Hoping that law enforcement gets to them soon, and looking forward to the PSN getting back up.
Very happy to have this read this letter. Thank you for taking this as seriously as you did Sony. I’m glad you’re always focusing on a quality product. Even in this situation where the entire Playstation Network services had to be disabled to ensure a quality product.
Thank you Sony.
Let the wall of text begin lol
wb data
gonna go play sp
I am loggin out now, so that I can track where posts are being made. sick of this anyways. just put it up tonight if you truly think of all of us as your “Friends”. Thats what a Friend does, they help you out and not keep you in the dark about anything. PSN tonight OK! not a request either. Dont make me call the Queen of England and get the Knigh status removed
add me once its back up ki773r37f and data, i got some info to tell you guys that I wont say on here
I will State this one final thing.
Sony, You didn’t’ practice safe Computing Practices that resulted in a culmination of Multiple Breaches.
I am going to keep my PS3, But I will use for my purpose you may have a selected few in your Clutches . But your investors received word on what you did or I should say Did Not Do.You left your systems wide open. I don’t care if I get banned From expressing my point of views or the Views of others. But you, Had the audacity to remove the Other Os From the PS3 Siting it was a security issue only later to have been proven that was a lie.
You Most Certainly had no Concepts of True Security.
I can care less what die hard fanboys / fangirls say. You are the utmost irresponsible company I have ever met when it came to Security.You Let us Down. You are nothing more then a Business deal Gone bad.And My feelings towards you are Just as Such. I am not sure How much More of this you can take personally Sony. I am
54not sure waht ti will take for your company
Cool beams!! i can see a light at the end of the tunnel
getting tired of waiting the psn needs to come up with a huge patch to stop that hackers in the future
Hi everyone… ^_^
I got about 65 trophies in these 2 weeks, including The Platinum Trophy of Socom 4 U.S. Navy Seals
^_^
No, Sony isn’t going to be hacked again. The “source” that CNET and everyone else is getting this information from is “somebody” who saw “somebody else” talking in a chat room. That’s literally all there is to that. It’s both shocking and appalling to me that so many sites are covering that story.
There’s no way to verify it and it doesn’t even make sense. They apparently say they “still have access to Sony’s servers” which is both false and idiotic considering A) the server is down and B) they have NO IDEA what the new server will be like because nobody has seen it yet.
So, please people, use your brains if only for a moment.
Hi everyone… ^_^
I got about 65 trophies in these 2 weeks, including The Platinum Trophy of Socom 4 U.S. Navy Seals
^_^
everything you download during your free month will not work after month is up so they are giving us a demo. Any plus subscriber can confirm this. just informing the eager non plus people. Its really not as good as a deal as it sounds. The puding will be in the welcome back downloads that wont expire. We will see but Im rather fed up with the mess and the amount of contacts needed to be made via their email for identity protection
So let’s say that this new “threat” actually ends up being legit. Who would be stupid enough to infiltrate Sony’s new servers when they have so many law enforcement agencies and private security agencies watching the servers? Think about it.
SOOPERGOOMAN187
Is there any info on that new hack that is supposed to be fly around now?
If this is true, they need to find these people fast.
@ 128 BeastXJason – If they upgrade the PSN so that I can download pudding that won’t expire, I’m completely sold! I really love pudding. I wonder how much I can get with $247.00 USD?
Hackers do not “announce” when and where they will attack, unless they have an extraordinary desire to be caught and imprisoned.
It’s like calling up a bank and saying you age going to stop by tomorrow at noon with 3 armed goons to take all of the money. Something tells me this would not be that effective of a plan.
No chance PSN will be back for the weekend… Why can’t it be up for Mother’s Day? I’m telling your moms!
Yo Sir Howard Stringer :D Any chance of getting any ‘GAMING’ news on this site? It’s been 2 weeks of all this PSN news. You would think looking at this site and your other PS:Blog sites that gaming has stopped for the PS3 game player, but ‘NO’ because i have had a excellent time playing the PS3 all year(even including the last 2 weeks) ;)
SO COME ON! BACK TO AMAZING PS3 GAMING NEWS ON THIS SITE PLEASE!;)
Sounds good! I looking forward to the PSN’s return! As for now I will continue to enjoy my single player games. :)
this appeard on the EU blog eariler note the bit at the bottom about what were getting in the EU anyway
“SCEE’s Identity Theft Protection Offering
EnglishSelect a Language:
Countries: AE, AU, GB, IE, NZ
Both Kazuo Hirai and Sir Howard Stringer have stated that we will be offering identity theft protection for those affected by the malicious attack on PlayStation Network and many of you may have seen the details of the service available in North America.
As I have explained previously, creating a similar offering for the many countries within the SCEE region is a very complicated process. Each country has a different way of handling identity theft; some offer relatively sophisticated services whilst others are much more modest.
We are currently in the process of identifying how we manage this situation and once the programme is ready to launch, we will provide details of exactly which services are available in each country and explain how to sign up. We hope to do this early next week.
cont in next post
Most of the same ppl thts already complaining abt the PSN not being up yet, will be the same ppl complaining abt the free games ect. ect. we’ll be getting once its back up in running. “Patience is Key”
I just want ‘normal’ PS3 gaming news on this site back really. I can’t see why everything has to stop on this site for, just because PSN is out of action?
I just want to play, now!
I understand about credit card/debt card fraud and it can happen to anyone anywhere. Hey each time you use your debit card/credit card you are exposed. When you go to your local department store – bam you just gave someone your card number. When, you go to a restaurant – bam they got your number. If you pay close attention at most sit down restaurants the waiter/waitress will take the card and disappear for 2-5 minutes. Here there is more than enough to get you card number, your special security card on the back of the card and if they asked for your ID they got your address and date of birth. Bottom line if you want 100% security you will have 0% freedom.
Sony I can handle the credit card fraud. All I have to do is be vigilant and just pay attention to my activity. I personally think the odds of fraud happening to be slim so I am not concerned about it. What I am concerned about is that I paid about $1,000 USD for my PS3 on day one to play online and NOT offline games with very dumb AI (artificial intelligence). I am done with offline gaming its boring and repetitive and not challenging. Nothing I mean NOTHING can replace the human element…
Get the network up ASAP
Thank You.
Desperate for some drakes online now!! :()
So I take it no PSN today, Sony? So the COUNTDOWN begins. Three days left. [Including today]
man I got a new headset yesterday for my ps3 and i can’t wait to use it:D
All I can think of is South Park:
“I’m sorry…”
i’m getting sick of this waiting game! give us a timeline! you are upsetting your customers, i am a dedicated playstation gamer but if i cant even be told a ballpark estimate im going to get extremely upset (cant swear on the forum). give us a rough timeline or risk losing customers! its been 2 weeks and im getting beyond sick of this crap, i bought your console to USE it and im a primarily online gamer!
Is PSN up yet? :)