Survive the PlayStation Network Hack!

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
Nothing gets in the way of shooting zombies with your cross-continent friends on the new Black Ops zombie maps like a total PSN outage due to hackers. The possibility of your credit card number being in the hands of the aforementioned hackers doesn’t sit too well either. We’ll run down the events that lead to the recent PlayStation storm, the risks and what you should do if you’re a PlayStation Network user that has provided Sony sensitive personal information.


Discuss "Survive the PlayStation Network Hack!" here. Read the article.
 
GlocksRock

GlocksRock

Audioholic Spartan
I guess when it comes to online gaming, you get what you pay for. Xbox LIVE > PSN
 
gmichael

gmichael

Audioholic Spartan
I haven't even turned my PS3 on in over a month. Would I still be in danger?
 
MinusTheBear

MinusTheBear

Audioholic Ninja
This is a MUCH bigger nightmare than the RROD fiasco with MS. There is info out there that Sony didn't even have the PSN passwords encrypted. :eek: With 77 million users that level of incompetence is mind blowing. I think this is just going to be the beginning of the nightmare for Sony. Even when this blows over, I wonder if congress and/or the DOJ will be knocking on Sony's door. Not to mention the class action lawsuits.

And for the little money you have to pay for Xbox live, the online is well worth it. xbox live > PSN
 
MinusTheBear

MinusTheBear

Audioholic Ninja
I haven't even turned my PS3 on in over a month. Would I still be in danger?
They have your username and password at the very least. If you have your email address, phone number, name tied to the PSN account, they have that too. If you used a credit card, it is possible that info has been breached as well.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
This is a MUCH bigger nightmare than the RROD fiasco with MS. There is info out there that Sony didn't even have the PSN passwords encrypted. :eek: With 77 million users that level of incompetence is mind blowing. I think this is just going to be the beginning of the nightmare for Sony. Even when this blows over, I wonder if congress and/or the DOJ will be knocking on Sony's door. Not to mention the class action lawsuits.

And for the little money you have to pay for Xbox live, the online is well worth it. xbox live > PSN
Wow! I'm glad I'm not attracted to POS like PS3.
 
Wayde Robson

Wayde Robson

Audioholics Anchorman
I guess when it comes to online gaming, you get what you pay for. Xbox LIVE > PSN
I'm not trying to pick a side in the "console war". I don't participate in that stuff. Both consoles are fine machines until you have problems with them, then they're both a nightmare.

I've used an Xbox 360 for years and had a review PS3 since around its original release date. Although I have never seen any significant difference in-game between either machine - I can unequivocally sate that Xbox Live is better than PSN.

The reason for this has nothing to do with performance in-game or total number of players etc. There are more features in Live. The biggest thing I appreciated about Live that I miss (because I almost never use my Xbox 360 anymore) is the ability to perma-mute an account from anywhere in-or-out of game.

In Call of Duty I have to wait til the game loads before I can "mute-the-'tards". So I'm sitting in the lobby listening to rap music and smack talk from children for several minutes. Then the next time I get into a room with the same moron they're now unmuted. Live gives me the ability to perma-mute an account so I don't have to hear them in CoD or NHL'11 or whatever I play. I can do it in and out of game.

I used to have a list of reasons Live is better, but they're all little details that make it a smoother experience.

Unfortunately most of my friends play on PSN so I have to use PS3 and PSN if I want to join mass zombie killing madness.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I have my 360 sitting and collecting dust, but only use I see it'll be used is as WMC extension then I'll get OCUR cable tuner
 
A

armaraas

Full Audioholic
My problem is I don't even know what I had on there for personal information. I did not have any credit card information, but all I have ever done is what was required on initial setup, otherwise I've never even been on PSN. That being said, it was over 2 years ago I got the PS3, and I have no idea what password I used at the time and what other accounts elsewhere the login information will match to. (I know it is not the same as any financial logins I have, or Audioholics...)
 
Lulimet

Lulimet

Full Audioholic
There is a reason my PS3 is strictly for bluray playback and Netflix streaming.

Xbox live ftw! :D
 
E

Entity

Audioholic Intern
I can unequivocally sate that Xbox Live is better than PSN.
In your opinion :rolleyes:

As a user of both, the services are identical for my uses...only, one cost $60 a year to use a feature that should have been included by default. You can't even use the Netflix service without paying Microsoft their piece of the yearly pie.
 
Cruise Missile

Cruise Missile

Full Audioholic
As a online-multiplayer gamer I also have to throw my hat in the Xbox live ring. There is absolutely no comparison between the two.

Now the netflix capability of the PS3 is superior to every other device I have that can do it.
The Xbox stops to adjust bandwidth, the Oppo is just clunky and slow with the menus, and there's no way I'll watch a movie on my PC.

But this whole pissing match with the fanboys is sad. :rolleyes:

Sony made some poor choices as far as security goes and is paying for it now. Does that make the Xbox better? The answer is a resounding no. The light instead shines on the old adage that you get what you pay for. But defending the PS3 because it "works for what I use it for" is like using a hammer to set screws. It's a gaming platform first and a video player second. The argument made about one requires $60/year to do the same thing is also very fanboy-ish.

*Please tell me you didn't spend $400+ dollars on a PS3 to watch Netflix.*:eek:

$60/year to keep my credit card info as well as the rest of my info safe while I play games with friends around the globe seems pretty fair. This security breach could end up costing a lot of people a lot of money. Not to mention the violation of their users privacy which is also been comprimised.

*Steps off soap box*

You may now return to your regular scheduled thread topic.
 
Wayde Robson

Wayde Robson

Audioholics Anchorman
There's no guarantee that Microsoft won't get hacked. If it can happen to Sony it can happen to anyone.
 
Cruise Missile

Cruise Missile

Full Audioholic
All to true Wayde.....

But, with the resources collected from the subscription fee you/I can hope that they'll invest in protection. When you have a revenue generating service it's in your best interest to keep that service running in order to protect that income stream.

Besides unlike Sony, Microsoft embraces the hacker communitys' ingenuity and often hires people based on this. Great strategy if you ask me. It's kind of the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mindset.

Sony on the other hand takes an entirely different approach. They actively target that community often stepping on the toes ( privacy ) of it's paying customers. This unfortunatly leaves Joe consumer dangling like a carrot on a stick for hackers/phishers to target.

I lost all of my data on a PC once due to a hidden ROM on a music CD mastered and sold by Sony/BMG. It left a back door open so they could secretly watch what you were doing with the music you purchased. This left the door open for a multitude of hacks and malicious software to find its way in. It's not the only time things of this nature have happened, just the only other one to ever directly involve me. The other of course being the comprimised C.C./ personal info B.S. that's going on now.
 
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Cruise Missile

Cruise Missile

Full Audioholic
I looked up microsofts' paid subscription numbers tonight. 20 million.

At $59.99 per annual subscription that's 1.19 BILLION a year. I'm willing to bet Microsoft is investing a ton of resources into protecting this revenue stream.

Do the math, if they invest 3% into security the amount is staggering. There's no possible way Sony is dumping money like that into something they provide for free. This is why Xbox live > PSN.

Plain and simple.
 
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Wayde Robson

Wayde Robson

Audioholics Anchorman
I guess you could be right about that.

Sony has garnered no love from hackers in recent years and there could be a sense of vendeta against them.

There has been an overall sense (in the Consumer Electronics industry) that it's not really about PC-vs-Mac but PC-vs-The set-top-box. Let's face it, a Mac is really just another set-top-box.

The stakes are high... Microsoft wants into your livingroom and the Xbox 360 is its first effort, probably more to come.

I'm not trying to resurect an old battle but...
Msoft suffered a defeat with HDDVD for which it provided software/firmware, Blu-ray's win was a victory for Sony and conventional Consumer Electronics companies.

Perhaps that alone makes it less likely Microsoft gets seriously hacked by any organized effort.

But... that's just idle speculation on my part.
 
Cruise Missile

Cruise Missile

Full Audioholic
I'm sure Microsoft gets attacks constantly, but deals with it effectively. ( most times )

Imagine punching an average person who has no training in boxing or martial arts with all of your strength. They'll likely go to the floor.

Now deliver that same punch to the jaw of a seasoned fighter who's trained hard. He'll probally smile then knock you out.

The punch is the same, but the result is far from similar due to the experience level of the victims. Microsoft has it's eye firmly fixed on the trophy that's in our living rooms, the T.V., and they've already taken a lot of punches.
 
DTS

DTS

Senior Audioholic
I got a letter from one of my credit card banks saying they are sending new cards due to some security issues from a merchant. I called and asked and was told the The Sony Store, only thing I could think of was for from several years go for some Burnout ad ons.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I watch the card that I had linked to my PSN account like a hawk and haven't had anything unusual come through, but like I said in the other thread, I already have credit protection through them because I had a previous incident with that card being stolen.
 
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