PSN Status: 80710092 Sony PlayStation Network Down after User Data Hacked

Sony PlayStation network crashed on an important launch day for much anticipated multiple Sony PlayStation games like Mortal Kombat, Portal 2 and SOCOM 4.

The network has been down quite a few times in the past few months, but until today the problems have only lasted a few hours. Today's outage is seemingly more severe than the other latest problems, though there is always a chance things will get fixed sooner rather than later.

Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) Down: Official Service Status

Sony Playstation Network is down, and it may not come back up for a couple of days, posted by Patrick Seybold, Senior Director, Corporate Communications Social Media, on the Sony PlayStation Official blog:

While we are investigating the cause of the Network outage, we wanted to alert you that it may be a full day or two before we're able to get the service completely back up and running. Thank you very much for your patience while we work to resolve this matter. Please stay tuned to this space for more details, and we'll update you again as soon as we can.

Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) Down: User Response

This service outage is making users lose trust for they are totally unable to play games online, including four brand releases of Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, SOCOM 4, and inFAMOUS 2 beta. On Sony blog users are showing annoyance and their anger about not being able to play Mortal Kombat and the inFAMOUS 2 beta release on the Easter Weekend. Dozens of other PlayStation games capable of network-play will be locked out for the next 24-48 hours.

Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) Down: Reasons and Speculation

Europe Playstation blog previously said the company was investigating the possibility of targeted behavior by an outside party. This indication of an "outside attack" has also raised a theory enquiring into the possibility of involvement of "Anonymous", the anarchic 'hacktivist' community. Examiner.com questioned, 'Did Anonymous take down Sony's Playstation 3 network?', while another online publication, Spong.com, noted PlayStation Network Outage Prompts 'Hacking' Conspiracy. Bloggers and Tweeps are also bustling with theories on Anonymous' involvement in the PlayStation network outage.

On the other hand, Hacking group Anonymous, which attacked Sony's servers earlier this month, on their Facebook page, claims no involvement in recent outage.

Speculation is running high on the internet. Questions have emerged of something similar to the system updates that were recently made available for XBox 360 would be released. In January 2011, Microsoft sneaked a super secret feature into its recent, Boot-to-Disc-restoring mandatory Xbox 360 firmware update: the ability to stop Call of Duty: Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 pirates and hackers. In March 2011, Treyarch released the First Strike map pack DLC, which came to Xbox 360 at the beginning of February. The pack had substantial fixes, including an update to the matchmaking system in multiplayer mode. The removal of an aggravating bug which updates the leaderboards after each match regardless of how it ranks against your overall performance was among the fixes on the zombie mode.

PSN Status UpdateAPR 27, 2011

Sony Shutdown PlayStation Network for Indefinite Period

After a frustrated waiting week or, Sony today, queshed all the hope of PSN fans over the globe by annoucing to keep PlayStation Network videogame service offline for an indefinate period following a "hacking attack" it now says which has stolen users information.

To ensure the network’s integrity, Sony said it is currently rebuilding the service, which connects more than 75 million PlayStation customers over the Internet, letting them play videogames and chat together. Sony's Spokesman and Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social media, Patrick Seybold said in an official Tweet and blog post:

I know you are waiting for additional information on when PlayStation Network and Qriocity services will be online. Unfortunately, I don’t have an update or timeframe to share at this point in time.

As we previously noted, this is a time intensive process and we’re working to get them back online quickly. We’ll keep you updated with information as it becomes available. We once again thank you for your patience.

Instead, many of them griped on Facebook, Twitter and even the Digits Blog. Many of the upset gamers said they wanted more transparency from Sony as the process of rebuilding its service continues. Others threatened to switch sides, as it were, and join Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, which largely offers the same features as the PlayStation Network.

Sony PlayStation Network Users Data Hacked

Adding insult to the injuries of PlayStation Network Gamers, Sony revealed it is investigating the “external intrusion” that forced the electronics giant to shut down its network last Wednesday, for steeling user data at their server. In an email, the company said it is suspecting that the user data on their server is compromised and they are trying to figure out if any personal information, such as credit card numbers, may have been hacked in the attack.

After Sony has confirmed that user data including names, emails, addresses, passwords and possibly even credit card information has been compromised in the "illegal and unauthorized intrusion" that occurred between April 17 and April 19 and has resulted in the worldwide PSN outage, If you have a PlayStation Network account, its time to change your password and be on the lookout for suspicious emails.

Guys, what you say now?