As many avid gamers and users of the PlayStation Network (PSN) know, Sony has left the network down for nearing a week now (since 4-21-11). At first, they said that they were still 'investigating' the cause of this, but now we know they manually took down the network. So first of all, what does it mean when the 'PSN' is down? That means that any online games through PlayStation, and eventually Sony are disabled, and any features using the PlayStation Network, which are most on the PS3, cannot operate. So your expensive machine is a somewhat lifeless lug of plastic without all those cool-internet features. So the Network being down for almost a week is a pretty big deal. You would think one of the largest electronics companies in the world (Sony, which owns and operates PlayStation) could figure out how to get their network online within a week. But they haven't, because they are completely reconstructing it from the ground up. Why? Around 70 million people with an account on the PlayStation Network have had their private account information stolen by an unknown thief. From April 17-19, Sony reports that an unknown hacker got into the network and got plenty of information about you. But so what if they know all about your Black Ops profile? Many keep their credit card information on their accounts, meaning your credit card number and expiration date, which was secure on the PSN database, is now in the hands of some thief as well as plenty of other people's information. Tons of people use the handy PlayStation Store to buy games and more using a credit card, and they may pay the price with their identity. Sony has since taken down the entire network and is completely reconstructing it from the ground up, leaving many with controllers in their hands and shocked faces when they realize they can't have their "Me Time" with their buddies. What does this mean? More information will be coming shortly in another news post, as well as updates on Sony's response to the break-in. Just hang in there, the network will be back eventually. |
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