In Case You Hadn't Heard, No, The PSN Hasn't Been Hacked
See Full ImageEver since last year's hack, everyone has been antsy concerning the PlayStation Network's security.
Sadly, Sony may never completely push past that lingering suspicion but for the record, the PSN has not been hacked again.
It started with a Tweet from hacking group Anonymous, claiming that it had breached the PSN, possibly compromising up to 10 million user accounts. Unsurprisingly, this created Internet-wide concern. However, Sony business development employee Shane Bettenhausen was quick to post up a retort Tweet, saying the claim was "totally fake." Not long after, a Sony representative confirmed to GameSpot that in fact, the sky isn't falling:
"We’ve confirmed that the recent claim that PlayStation Network was illegally hacked and that customer passwords and email addresses were accessed is completely false."
In truth, nobody is really safe in cyberspace, so we should always be a little on edge. At least for now, though, the Network is just fine and none of your personal information is at risk, so breathe easy.
Tags: psn, playstation network, anonymous, psn hack
8/15/2012 8:26:28 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (27 posts)
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 @ 9:49:29 PM
6 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 @ 10:36:02 PM
Reply
6 up, 2 down
Highlander
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 @ 10:50:11 PM
6 up, 3 down
Rogueagent01
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 1:35:08 AM
4 up, 1 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 7:39:36 AM
Anonymous has in fact outed several hackers whose actions they disagree with. For instance the guy who hacked a humanitarian organization to make an impression on them.
They found out his real identity, and delivered their data to the police.
Here in Norway they have also assisted the Police on occasions, and it was due to Anonymous members in Norway that the Police so fast got the real identity and proof of activity of a guy that was the reason for a lot of DDOS attacks on major sites here.
Agree or disagree with their opinions or actions, but it's not just random attacks "for the heck of it" done with no real motivation or intentions. They themselves believe they contribute to the world - just like they thought in the 60s and 70s.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/16/2012 7:47:21 AM
1 up, 3 down
Looking Glass
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8:27:59 AM
It may be true that hackers do occasionally screw each other over. And that's fine and may even be enjoyable to witness. But even so hackers are still more trouble than they're worth.
No matter which way you cut it, hackers are dangerous people. And as such they shouldn't be glorified in any way to any extent.
4 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8:54:19 AM
2 up, 2 down
coverton341
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 9:48:39 AM
When actions like these are taken and people such as this are brought to justice, that is something that I can get behind.
Conversely, when they intrude into secure systems and steal random peoples' data to "make a point" because a company has done something that they don't agree with, that's something that I find condemnable.
You always have to individual actions in the correct context.
Is it wrong to intrude into personal computers to expose a paedophile? The intrusion may be wrong, but the end result isn't.
TL;DR: sometimes they do good things.
1 up, 0 down
Looking Glass
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 9:50:31 AM
I partially disagree (respectfully of course). Civil unrest and hacking might sometimes go hand in hand (let me emphasize might). However the two are by no means one and the same. People who participate in civil unrest are not inherently dangerous but hackers are and even if they sometimes do good and worthwhile things that doesn't make them any less dangerous. And because hackers are inherently dangerous people demonization is not inappropriate.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 8/16/2012 9:53:13 AM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 10:43:21 AM
"Hacking" is a term that, at least for me, is very vague. What is it?
To protest and act against the establishment and corporate powers is really nothing new. It's part of a youth culture, it's a healthy sign in my opinion. It should be there, or something is wrong.
Too bad they attacked the corporation that we happen to be faithful worshipers of. Boohoo. But what were the consequences, really? A month without online gaming and a corporation that is now much better prepared for real criminals with much worse intentions. Poor us...!
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/16/2012 10:44:56 AM
2 up, 0 down
Looking Glass
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 12:26:42 PM
I'm not talking about philosophy. I'm talking about from a practical standpoint and a more precise and realistic sense. Hackers are inherently dangerous because of the very nature of what they do, or what makes them hackers. And the fact that there are other dangerous people in the world doesn't change that. And protesting and acting against stuff is all well and good but the same is not true for every form this kind of thing can take and every method that can be used. There are much better and more respectable ways to protest and speak out against something.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 8/16/2012 12:36:39 PM
0 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 1:58:57 PM
The world need rebels. ;)
And - again - what did we suffer, really. It could have been much, much worse had criminals gotten to PSN first. We were lucky.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/16/2012 2:12:10 PM
1 up, 0 down
Looking Glass
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 2:07:18 PM
They did get on to PSN. Those hackers were criminals. Hence them being tracked down and arrested.
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 2:35:27 PM
Oh well. I guess that's why we still need rebels. ;)
I'm pulling your leg now, LG, in all friendliness. But seriously, there is a major difference between being of annoyance like they were and robbing your entire house, like criminals would have done were they given the chance.
Protesters are often arrested too.
0 up, 0 down
Looking Glass
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 3:05:34 PM
They did rob the place. They stole customer information and a lot of it. They just didn't publicize it or do anything major with it like that as far as I know (at least one of them claimed to have deleted it). But if you remember after their first two attacks against Sony's networks it was revealed that they were actually planning a third one. And this time they were planning to publicize the customer info they stole. But fortunately that plan of theirs was thwarted when Sony shut down and worked on the server they claimed to have had access to. And besides the simple act of stealing that info was horrible enough in and of itself.
Those people weren't protesters. They were outright criminals and they deserved what they got many many times over.
Last edited by Looking Glass on 8/16/2012 3:13:53 PM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 4:29:36 AM
This is like if I made a fake key to the door of your house, entered your house and took some snapshots inside to show you I did it, and made a few phonecalls with your phone to brag about it. I never took any money, never stole your TV and stereo. I *could*, but I didn't. All I wanted to do is humiliate you.
Would I have been a criminal? Sure, I'm pretty certain it would have been illegal to make that fake key and enter someone elses home. Still, there is a huuuuuge difference between that, and if someone went to your house while you were on vacation, completely emptied your house and left without a trace.
*Surely* you must see the difference.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/17/2012 4:31:52 AM
0 up, 0 down
Looking Glass
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 10:53:18 AM
None of that has anything to do with the PSN attacks that happened over a year ago.
0 up, 0 down
JDC80
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 @ 10:51:35 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 7:43:38 AM
3 up, 0 down
___________
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 3:59:02 AM
Reply
exactly why i always put up fake info just in case, better to be safe than sorry.
especially after when PSN got hacked last time and i had several PSN games charged to my card, so my bank canceled them and $ony blocked my account for it.
typical $ony, someone commits CC fraud so they send them a thank you note and punish the victim!
1 up, 3 down
Looking Glass
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8:41:10 AM
Reply
Of course a false claim isn't going to do much damage, if any at all. It wouldn't be all that surprising if Anonymous did try to hack the PSN again but ended up having too much trouble with Sony's new security measures and instead settled for crying wolf.
On a related note the PSN outage didn't do nearly as much damage to Sony as the Sony haters would like to think. Sony has been having major problems as of late but for unrelated reasons (tax issues, natural disasters, the global recession etc)
Last edited by Looking Glass on 8/16/2012 8:45:27 AM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 8:59:09 AM
That a network is being hacked is almost the rule these days. The main complaint I have about that whole PSN outage thing is that it took them *that* long to get back up again. That was ugly.
The rest is history.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/16/2012 8:59:37 AM
1 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 11:42:54 AM
Last edited by Highlander on 8/16/2012 11:43:28 AM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 1:52:52 PM
You need not be a computer scientist to see that this is in no way shape or form a model of *anything* other than a disaster story. You can't compare it with anything cause it's incomparable!
How do you think the headlines would have been if any of your major banking system hacks had caused a downtime of even a TENTH of that? It would have caused a breakdown of the entire world economy!
Had PSN only needed to be down for a few minutes or even hours before they were up and running again with a password reset I can promise - PROMISE - you that Sony would have been just as talkative about this as any other major corporation is when their security is breached.
But as it were, they simply HAD to go out and speak up. There were no alternatives, not when their entire network had collapsed on this scale.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/16/2012 2:30:18 PM
0 up, 0 down
Highlander
Thursday, August 16, 2012 @ 4:56:02 PM
If you don't wish to give credit where it's due, that's your privilege. I think that they deserve some credit for how they handled the attack.
Last edited by Highlander on 8/16/2012 4:56:55 PM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, August 17, 2012 @ 4:17:08 AM
It was a fairly good damage control, I don't see it as much more or less than that.
So it was ok I guess. :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/17/2012 4:22:57 AM
0 up, 0 down
cLoudou
Reply
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 @ 9:23:03 PM