Day 6: Sony PlayStation Network down due to hackers
[Updated story: Sony admits hackers have stolen user info]
It’s been almost a full week and the PlayStation Network is still down.
The network, which has been down since Wednesday and allows 75 million users to play games with friends over the Internet, went down several times in February and March. The network is also used to deliver downloadable games and other static media. Sony’s Qriocity (pronounced “curiousity”) service, which provides streaming video, music and games, is also down.
Sony has not explained what happened exactly, but hackers are apparently behind the recent outage.
Take that hackers!
Late Friday, Sony said “An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network … .”
External intrusion = Attack by hackers.
When will online gaming resume? Late Monday, a Sony spokesman said “I don’t have an update or timeframe to share at this point in time.”
Protecting the network from hackers has been a lot more difficult than Sony first predicted. Thursday night, Sony said it might only take a full day or two.
Saturday, Sony said “we are working around the clock to bring [the network] online. Our efforts to resolve this matter involve re-building our system to further strengthen our network infrastructure. Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security.”
The hacking group Anonymous, which some had thought may be behind Sony’s problems, say it’s not them. On the group’s Facebook page someone wrote, “ATTENTION: For everyone coming here complaining about the PSN or inquiring about it, We Do Not Know What Happened. This is not the work of Anonymous.”
Sony’s problems are also unrelated to Amazon’s crash, which has crippled many popular websites and online services including Reddit, Foursquare, Quora and Hootsuite.
This is a big blow, especially through the long holiday weekend. Some games can only be played online, and many of the more popular games, such as the “Call of Duty” series, usually have hundreds of thousands of players logging into online firefights.
So, hang up your M16 there won’t be any “Call of Duty” deathmatches until Sony fixes this thing.
As someone says below, sometimes “you get what you don’t pay for.” Time to fire up the Xbox 360.
* Check the PlayStation blog for the latest updates.
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1,922 comments Add your comment
Coolman
April 26th, 2011
9:51 pm
I agree nicole,(on page 188) Xbox crap60 is crap.So is that lousy Kinect.IT SUCKS.It does not follow every move u make.I would rather play the Wii.At least it hasn`t got hackers hopefully
360X
April 26th, 2011
11:01 pm
I’m glad I sold my PS3 two years ago and keep with the Xbox. Now I don’t have to worry about my credit card info being stolen!! Thank you Bill Gates!!!
Drew
April 27th, 2011
9:16 am
Ok so what psn is down I know its bs bot o well get over it and if you really want to switch to 360 go agead if you want to pay for internet nd to pay like 60 bucksa year just to play online go ahead that’s the only thibg Microsoft did right hope you like getting ripped off and the 360 can’t do half the thing the ps3 can the ps3 is way better hands down I still use the original ps3 and one of my buddies got a 360 tue same day to and he has gone through 5 of them already and about a year ago he dropped it for a ps3 and agrees its way better so Xbox and Microsoft can suck it
johndoe99
April 27th, 2011
10:10 am
to those that are saying to switch to XBOX, why would a PS3 owner do that, the graphics are way better on PS3. XBOX media are DVDs (7gb), PS3 media is bluray (50gb), theres more storage space on PS3 so better graphics
360X
April 27th, 2011
11:18 am
You may have to pay to play on xbox but the competition is better. Reason being you don’t have a bunch of young kids on trying to play online because it’s free. I will admit the first xbox I bought broke down but my Elite is still running great. As for the blu-ray player it’s a nice feature, but I didn’t buy a gaming system to watch movies I bought it to play video games!!
Freightsgrl
April 27th, 2011
3:25 pm
F*ck Sony. Today I called and asked them a few things about replacing my unit. Why?
i Bought it a yr ago USED! and no warranty on it But there should be a 1 yr manufactures warranty. and there is! BUT because it was pre-owned THEY WONT AS A ONE TIME COURTESY REPLACE IT!
I came from Xbox and definetly going back! Gamestop is doing the last day for extra 50 buck with points rewards card trade in your console, those of you who wish to trade it in, do it! WE ALL KNOW GEOHOT WILL HACK THIS NEW SERVER TOO! ILL BE THE FIRST ONE TO TELL HIM GO FOR IT!
WHAT A LET DOWN SONY…
Drew
April 27th, 2011
5:59 pm
Ok even on xbox you still get to play with a lot og snot nose little brats don’t lie to me
Freightsgrl
April 27th, 2011
9:15 pm
Forgive me Sony. I was Irate earlier and didnt mean that your servers will get Hacked again. BUT….. Im still pissed off that you guys wont help with a one time courtesy unit swap. I work for GPS units and every once in a while if a unit is corrupted we will help OUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS AND REPLACE THE UNIT.
I will never buy a product of yours again. Ill stick with my junkie box and smack it up everytime i want it to read a game. when it finally craps out ill use it to hold up some books on my shelf!
nicole
April 28th, 2011
12:06 pm
thank you coolman at least someone agrees with me!!!!!
Freightshaka
April 28th, 2011
2:02 pm
I just want my psn back up and running so I can piss off little kids by spawn shooting and camping on them hahahahahahahahahhaha losers. Love you Freightsgrl!