Friday, March 28th 2008
Sony Reports Possible Security Breach On PlayStation Network
Sony on Thursday reported that hackers may have penetrated security on the PlayStation network and gained access to some users' personal information. Sony said the security breach occurred at the PlayStation Store, a content download service of the network. "Although unlikely, it is possible that the passwords of a small percentage of PlayStation Network users may have been changed through unauthorized access," the company said. As a result, intruders could have seen users' personal information and used their online "wallets" at the store. However, because the system does not display users' entire credit card numbers, it is "very unlikely" thieves were able to steal them. Sony said it has fixed the problem and security has been restored. The company is now investigating the incident and is directly contacting customers who may have been affected. Sony has also created a support page for subscribers to ask questions and get more information.
Source:
Yahoo! News
10 Comments on Sony Reports Possible Security Breach On PlayStation Network
(actually yeah i can actually see that happening as the PS3 does have a F@H client :( )
skynet ftw!!!
I own a PS3 as well as an xbox, and in the 5+ year xboxlive has been going its never been hacked. paying £40 per year for peace of mind is an actual benefit
And it isn't so much what you see that should bother you, but what you DONT see. A real test of security and what is going on is to put a tracking device between a internet enabled device and the internet and watch what it does. Phone home, send tracking data, etc.... things you will never see but that tattle on you and give a company more data to mine about you so they can target you for ads and or turn you over if they find you doing something wrong.
Lets say that Sony wants to know how many people are using the PS3 for watching movies and what type. So a polling process that sends back a small packet of data will be unnoticed by 99.9% of people and ignored. But if you watch a rip of some movies burned to blu-ray and it shows that to Sony, who then turns it over to the authourities who give you a house call. Or if they determine that your internet surfing is questionable by use of a built in DNS and reverse DNS lookup to you.
There are alot of things one can do with information, say if you like a certian thing on the internet that you would prefer to remain your secret. Or if a hacker subverted the data stream using DNS and phishing techniques. Record the data packets and you have unlimited time to work on breaking them. 128 bit encryption can be broken by a P4 in under a day for WEP access, so why not a stream of data packets? A couple hops and some rerouting on your local ISP's network and any one can copy data with some homebrew tools.
Or perhaps your ISP is watching your surfing habits, using their DNS you give than all your lookup information. Or if they sniff packets coming and going.