Foster City, Calif. – Adding to the now nearly two-week-long
downing of its PlayStation Network online game service and Qriocity media
streaming services, Sony (NYSE: SNE) has now additionally taken down the Facebook games and
massively multiplayer titles operated by its Sony Online Entertainment unit.
"We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of
our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an
issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective
immediately," the company wrote in a note on its website.
Sony said a
malicious intrusion into its network two weeks ago exposed encrypted credit
card data on its customers, as well as personal information that could potentially
be used in identity scams.
The PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, which
collectively count around 77 million users, have been offline ever since as the
company investigates and restructures the services.
Sony said it plans to offer
all PlayStation Network customers 30 days free membership to its PlayStation
Plus premium service, while subscribers to the company’s Music Unlimited
powered by Qriocity service will also receive 30 days of free service.
The company
also plans to offer select PlayStation entertainment content for free download,
as compensation for the lengthy outage.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3rosx53
(Wired)
http://tinyurl.com/3r3kvmg
(Ars Technica)
