Just as we were starting to get twitchy about Sony's lack of communication, the firm announced over the weekend that its Data Centers had now been restored, and that new, supposedly foolproof, security measures were now in place to keep user data safe. An early warning system has also been developed to raise the alert much more quickly in the event of future threats.
In its latest statement, Sony outlined how restoration would progress:
'... the phased restoration will be on a country by country basis beginning in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.
The first phase of restored services for North America and Europe will include:
The first phase of restored services for North America and Europe will include:
- Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords.
- Restoration of online gameplay across PlayStation 3 and PSP.
- Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Store Video Store on PS3, PSP and Media Go.
- Q Music Unlimited, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC.
- Access to third party services such as VidZone and MUBI.
- 'Friends' category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc.
- PlayStation Home.'
You'll need to reconnect to PSN via the PS3 you used to set up your account (or via a PC using a confirmation e-mail system or by following these steps) and update your console with the new 3.61 firmware. This will automatically prompt you to reset your password, seeing as your old one was probably stolen when the 100 million online accounts were hacked.
The Welcome Back compensation scheme should tempt even the most reluctant gamers to return to the service, if only to have a look at what's on offer. Sony will be offering Premium services to all PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders. For example, PSN users will be able to pick two PS3 games from a choice of five, and PSP users will be able to pick two games from a choice of four.
Sony has also released this video message (below) detailing the recent events, Sony's response, and the firm's awareness of the constant risk of future attacks. In many ways, this video marks the dawn of a new era, in which the good guys will be tirelessly fighting against evil online pirates—the new public enemy number one.
Sony is offering US customers free inscription in cyber-monitoring and insurance schemes. However, there's no confirmation of whether such services will be available in other regions.
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