Sony Rebuilding PlayStation Network Security After Attack
alphadogg writes "The outage of Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity service, now in its fourth day, looks set to continue after the company said on Sunday that it is 'rebuilding' its system to better guard against attacks. Sony said on Saturday that the outage was caused by an 'external intrusion' into the network, but has yet to detail the problem. The PlayStation Network is used for PlayStation 3 online gaming and sales of software to consoles and the PlayStation Portable. The Qriocity service runs on the same network infrastructure and provides audio and video to Sony consumer electronics products."
Someone insert a Sony music CD into a computer there?
no backups.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Are you seriously suggesting that Sony deosn't have enough resources to develop a decent service that is critical to their business?
Isn't that like saying that Windows should have fewer security holes then Linux because they charge for the product and are therefore able to put more money into it? It's nonsense.
It's nonsense.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
Nonexistent.
Sony probably relied entirely on client side security, assuming that the PS3 was unbreakable.
That, and thanks to their attempts to keep people on the latest "secure" firmware, PSN services that shouldn't be PSN services like Netflix and Hulu are now hosed (except for some people who apparently use the same password for all their accounts and can hit cancel at the login screen). If Netflix hadn't allowed the PSN-free disc to be disabled, we could be using it right now.
Isn't that like saying that Windows should have fewer security holes then Linux because they charge for the product and are therefore able to put more money into it? It's nonsense.
In a weird way, your question mimics the claim made by MicroSoft: Windows is better because you have to pay for it, and so MS has a stake in providing a good and reliable user experience. In fact, this argument works in some business/government circles, because they feel that without a business organization backing up the product, there is no accountability.
So for some users, it is NOT nonsense. Even when real world experience shows MS does a worse job then open source alternatives.
Why is Snark Required?
In Soviet Russia ... customers cripple Sony's hardware!
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why gamers will never be taken seriously. This attitude of "Fuck rights! I want mah GAEMS!" that has been displayed by many gamers during the entire GeoHot Vs Sony episode has me seriously perplexed.
For those of you that use your PS3 mainly for streaming Netflix (like me), just keep hitting login after you've gone to the red 'Netflix' screen. It will try to login and fail about 3 to 5 times in a row. Then you will be able to access your Netflix account like normal.
Look where all this talking got us, baby.
Whose right to what is being protected by this attack?
Now I'm as disenchanted with Sony as the next geek.. But plucking claims out of thin air doesn't really help..
The real answer is that it can actually be pretty good, just someone found a way in that's pretty pervasive to their design or implementation.
Still, no matter how good (or not) it was before, it can obviously be improved.. Someone will almost certainly break the next version, if they try hard enough (quite a few will probably be picked up on the IDS, and perhaps charged before then).
How good it really was, who knows, until someone posts full details and disclosure of the security structure..
My netflix works regardless of my PSN connection. My PSN and Netflix accounts do not use the same password either. Netflix asks to log in to PSN twice, and when it cannot it just continues on and works normally (this has happened on several occasions when my PSN log in did not work for whatever reason). I was actually quite surprised at this; I thought netflix actually had put some thought into designing a robust system. Does this not work for everyone?
Netflix is not hosed. It works as long as you allow the login process to time out a couple of times. I use a unique password for every online service I am a part of and I was able to access Netflix last night.
The only thing Xbox LIVE gives you over PSN is cross game voice chat and users dumb enough to pay 50 a year for the service.
Looks like Live is also currently offering service to its customers.
Keep on knockin'
https://robbiecrash.me
Sony is responsbile for that drama. They can't fix the consoles now that the key is out. They should have just kept quiet and banned the consoles that were not running the official Sony software (or using cheats). This whole thing would have never happened if they just stayed low key. instead they take him to court, confiscate his shit and send C&D's to anyone who posted the key which caused the Anon response.
Sony overreacted.. and they know it.. else they wouldn't have settled out of court.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why gamers will never be taken seriously. This attitude of "Fuck rights! I want mah GAEMS!" that has been displayed by many gamers during the entire GeoHot Vs Sony episode has me seriously perplexed.
I find it really telling that the people who post such things like the tripe quoted here feel that only THEY have rights - the rights of normal gamers is just collateral damage
Sure it's the person in charge of the IT or the person in charge of funding the IT?
Most problems IT has known about for quite some time, since IT built the systems. They know precisely where the failures could happen and have probably thought of ways to work around them, but it all comes down to funding.
If the person who signs the paycheck says "we aren't doing that" then that's it--done.
Why should they lose millions of users data?
This is blinging
This dude's blog seems to be an "official" source:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/author/pseybold/
Tony.
-- "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" -- Juvenal
You've got to be kidding me. GeoHot and fail0verflow uncovered security flaws, and some pathetic gamer responds that they should be shot in the head. Sony was the one to act like a bunch of Gestapo in response to the security flaws. GeoHot and fail0verflow are not responsible for any attacks on Sony's network.
The parent poster also said nothing about supporting attacks on Sony's network, and Anonymous has disavowed that this is their doing. For all anybody knows, Sony is having trouble of their own making and blaming it on outside parties.
"Their "overreaction" is the same for any company."
Intentionally or not, you have posted a falsehood. You need look no further than Bill Gates to prove that. Allow me to quote or misquote him:
"We would rather have them pirating our operating system, than using the competition's operating system!" Microsoft can and will go after business concerns for piracy, but they do not prosecute Random Joe Hacker.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
what does Apple do to jailbreakers? nothing.
what does MS do to non commercial pirates? nothing. (except for the genuine advantage check)
what does Bilzzard/Activation do to WoW cheaters? ban/suspend account and associated credit cards.
what does MS do the XBLA cheaters? ban account/console
Sony is doing what the RIAA/MPAA does (maybe because they members of both?)
software piracy has been around long before music/movie piracy - i can't rememer a single incident where software companies filed john does against everyone they THOUGHT stole something.
they settled because:
1) the PR shitstorm
2) economic impact (they can't undo the damage - their resources are best spend mitigating it - ban the consoles and credit cards
3) weak case - it's not clear (to me) that GeoHot did anything against their TOS. which clause was violated? win or lose the lawsuit the key is still out there. why did the EFF coume out AGAINST Sony? http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/01/sony-v-hotz-sony-sends-dangerous-message
i say again - by doing what they did, they brought this on themselves.
Well, certainly not GeoHot's right to not be falsely accused for this.
If you believe in privacy, and believe you have "nothing to hide" at the same time, you're a goddammed idiot
I wonder if the system that was compromised contained the credit card data they have stored for the PSN accounts.
Hate to say it, but the AppleTV is looking pretty good right now.
Also the iPad2 which can handle Netflix video just fine and mirror to a TV.
Or of course there is the Roku box solution too.
Tying the ability for Netflix to function to the ability of PSN to function is madness. I liked the PS3 for Netflix playback but there's no way I'm relying on it going forward.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Sony is such a wonderful company, I'm sure they will be happy to give me a partial refund for not being able to use the GT5 online features this month. They were so nice when they told me they would automatically remove the other OS software for me, I didn't have to do a thing. Just agree to let them do it. If I didn't agree, I was no longer able to use the PS3 for any network games as promised, but I give them that one- they knew it was for my own good. They were also really looking out for me and even put software on music CD's and DVD's (the last place you would expect to find executable code) and it would install all by itself and I didn't even have to worry about all the windows setup junk. To top it off, they even scanned my hard drive to let me know if anyone had put shared music on it! all for free! they never charged me a thing for doing any of this! What a nice company. Obama even went and had his recent fund raiser at Sony. They must be great! No politician would ever be dirty!
"Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
Try this old game called LIFE , it is a hell of a game, comes with a life subscription , completely interactive and has over 6 billion players. No respawn , no cheats unless it is with a partner that isn't your Sig Other. It has no down time unless you end the game. According to myth , the developer hacked it out in 6 days. I would rate it 6 stars out of 5.
Unfortunately, there are some serious game-balance issues. While the risk of being spawn-camped is pretty low(NPCs usually end up killing anybody who hangs out in the maternity ward with a rocket launcher...); but some spawn points seriously suck.
I have seen little publicly from Sony, and I am positive I haven't seen Sony specify who caused this. The latest update I've seen only said the problem was due to an 'external intrusion'.
Many people online have posted to message boards that they believe this was the work of 'Anonymous', but Sony hasn't said that, as far as I'm aware.