|
|
Homeland Security looking into PSN Server Hacking Published by forahobby on Monday, May 02, 2011
Tagged: Gaming,
The Homeland Security Department, charged with protecting the nation's critical infrastructure, is helping to mitigate the damage from a breach of customer account data on Sony's online video game and entertainment networks that could have affected 77 million users.
 Over a three-day period last week, intruders hacked into user profiles on the PlayStation Network gaming console and the company's music and video service Qriocity, Sony officials disclosed on Tuesday.
"The Department of Homeland Security is aware of the recent cyber intrusion to Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity music service," DHS spokesman Chris Ortman said. "DHS' U. S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team is working with law enforcement, international partners and Sony to assess the situation."
While gaming and music networks may not be considered "critical infrastructure," the data that perpetrators accessed could be used to infiltrate other systems that are critical to people's financial security, according to some computer experts. Stolen passwords or profile information, especially codes that customers have used to register on other websites, can provide hackers with the tools needed to crack into corporate servers or open bank accounts.
The PlayStation site states that the perpetrator obtained the names, addresses and birth dates of registered users, as well as their email addresses, network usernames and login passwords. User profile information, such as answers to password security questions and purchase histories, also may have been taken. The company has no evidence that credit card data was stolen but officials said they cannot rule out the possibility.
US-CERT offers victimized companies guidance on service restoration and risk management, as well as recommendations for improving overall network and control systems security. The team also shares information gleaned from investigations with private sector and government cybersecurity specialists to prevent similar strikes elsewhere.
Patrick Burke, senior vice president in the national security sector at SRA International, said Homeland Security's role in a situation such as Sony's is to help companies exchange information about the nature of their losses with customers, the commercial sector and the government as soon as a breach is discovered. "There can't be a fear of retribution," he said.
The public was outraged this week after learning Sony waited until April 26 to tell customers it had detected an intrusion on April 19. The consumer electronics company took down the compromised services around the 20th, reporting on its blog, "We're aware certain functions of PlayStation Network are down. We will report back here as soon as we can with more information."
"We're all in this together," Burke said. "We all need to understand that. There's an adversary that we're trying to defeat. If we're not going to share information when we're attacked . . . that's gotta get fixed."
As far as the scale of Sony's customer account break-in, the PlayStation hack is outranked by two recent invasions. An intrusion at TJX Companies Inc. that was reported in 2007 exposed data from more than 94 million credit and debit cards belonging to consumers who had shopped at TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, A.J. Wright and Marshalls stores. In 2009, an incursion at Heartland Payment Systems Inc., which processes debit and credit card transactions, compromised about 130 million cards.
Head on over to www.nextgov.com to read the entire article.
News-Source: http://nextgov.com
Related Articles: here | here
( Subscribe via    
)
|
|
| |
 
 |
|
 |
|
Friday, April 12 | |  Umbraclaw hits Xbox, PlayStation, Switch & PC |
Thursday, April 11 | | TMNT: Wrath of the Mutants Hits XBOX, PlaySta |
| GIC’24 Early Bird Tickets Now Available |
Wednesday, April 10 | | Mars 2120 launches out of Early Access onto a |
Tuesday, April 09 | | Die by the Blade Slashes Its Way onto PC in M |
Monday, April 08 | | Strike Gold with the Call of Duty Gold & Silv |
| Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters Arrives May 21st |
Thursday, March 28 | | FALLEN LEAF Teams Up with STUDIOS EXTRAORDINA |
Tuesday, March 26 | | Explore the World of Ink Painting in Realm of |
Monday, March 25 | | JSAUX’S Black MODCASE for the ROG Ally Is Ava |
Friday, March 22 | | Barton Lynch Pro Surfing Update v1.07 is LIVE |
| RuneScape developer Jagex joins CVC Capital P |
Thursday, March 21 | | Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open coming to |
Wednesday, March 20 | | Dark JRPG Graphic Adventure 'Neon Blood' debu |
Tuesday, March 19 | | Hauntii hits Xbox Game Pass for console and P |
Monday, March 18 | | Discover the Sound of Life in The Lullaby of |
Thursday, March 14 | | WWII-based strategy epic Classified: France ' |
| Night Slashers: Remake confirmed for XBOX, Pl |
Wednesday, March 13 | | Highwater is coming soon for Xbox X|S, XB1, P |
Tuesday, March 12 | | Terra Memoria is set to launch on Xbox Series |
| Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland releases in M |
Monday, March 11 | | Sonic X Shadow Generations hits Xbox One, Xbo |
Friday, March 08 | | Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator out now f |
| Sci-fi adventure 'Sky of Tides' announced for |
Thursday, March 07 | | Planet Zoo: Console Edition arrives on March |
Wednesday, March 06 | | MLB The Show 24 launches later this month on |
| FLIPGO: A portable dual monitor that you can |
Tuesday, March 05 | | EARTHLOCK 2 Reveals New Details On Desert Shi |
Monday, March 04 | | Reverse-city builder, Flooded Out Now on Xbox |
| REVEIL launches this week on Xbox Series, PS5 |
See All Xbox 360 News | Xbox 360 News Archive
|
| |
HQ Network: 8,668 | 
Guests: 4399 |
Members: 0
