Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) restored

Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) is back up and running for Australian users, according to the Japanese gaming giant.

Advising PSN users in an email sent overnight, Sony said access to the PlayStation Store on PlayStation3, PSP (PlayStationPortable) and on PC via Media Go was now restored.

According to the company, a number of additional security improvements to PSN had been made through its work with “several respected outside security firms” to strengthen safeguards against unauthorised activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information.

“The company has made considerable enhancements to the data security, including updating and adding advanced security technologies, additional software monitoring and penetration and vulnerability testing, and increased levels of encryption and additional firewalls,” Sony’s official blog reads.

“The company also added a variety of other measures to the network infrastructure including an early warning system for unusual activity patterns that could signal an attempt to compromise the network.”

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The company is also pushing a system software update, 3.61, to customers to run before they are allowed to log on to the PlayStation Network again. User passwords will also have to be reset.

“In restoring PSN, we have introduced a safety measure which means you will need to update your PlayStation Network account password before you can start using PSN again,” the customer email reads.

“Again, we would like to thank you for your patience and support whilst our teams worldwide work to get the full range of PSN services back up and running.”

Sony’s experience and the effect of the hack on its customers has prompted security and compliance specialist NetIQ to argue that Sony should look into investments that could limit the impact and damage of future attacks, such as an incident response team similar to those used by banks and financial institutions.

“Looking at the financial impact this breach has had on Sony, both directly and indirectly, this incident response capability would be a very smart investment,” NetIQ's Australia principal consultant, Patrick Eijkenboom, said.

Sony has also announced the details of its ‘Welcome Back’ package for affected PSN users.

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