93,000 PSN ACCOUNTS LOCKED BY SONY DUE TO HACKING ATTEMPT

In addition to having to recall 1.6 million Bravia TVs, it's also been forced to temporarily lock 93,000 customers out of their PSN and Sony Online Entertainment accounts. You won't be surprised by the reason: an attempt by hackers to "test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords" against Sony's network database. Some of the affected accounts showed "additional activity prior to being locked" and are being investigated. On the flip-side, Sony's Chief Information Security Officer, Philip Reitinger, stressed that most of the hackers' details resulted in failed logins and in any case credit card details are not at risk. Users are being told to expect an email if they've been affected, which will contain further instructions.

SONY'S WELCOME BACK PROMOTION ENDS TODAY!

Sony’s “Welcome Back” promotion, billed as an attempt by the company to win back disaffected gamers after the PlayStation Network hack and subsequent month-long outage, is ending this weekend. If you haven’t downloaded your free games and content, now is the time to do it.

The PlayStation Network returned at he beginning of June to fanfare and free games from Sony for all of the gamers who had been knocked offline. Players returning to the PlayStation Network are eligible for two free games from a list that includes Dead Nation, inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD + Fury. PSP owners can select any two free games from LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation.

Additionally, PSN members have access to 30 free days of PlayStation Plus which will expire automatically, unless they sign up for a subscription account and monthly paid membership.PlayStation Plus members got 60 additional free days added to their memberships, and subscribers to the Sony Music Unlimited Service got an extra 30 days added to that service for free as well – but for both groups to get the benefit, they had to sign up through the Welcome Back program.

To be eligible for the program, PSN members have to have accounts older than the April 20th PSN hack. Gamers who have been wary of turning their PlayStation 3 consoles back on because the pace of game company hacks hasn’t slowed over the past month may want to get back online this weekend if only to grab their free games. The promotion ends on July 3rd, and gamers who haven’t redeemed their free titles by then will no longer be eligible for the promotion.

PLAYSTATION NETWORK RETURNING TO ASIA TOMORROW SAYS SONY

Good news, Asia -- the PlayStation Network is finally coming back. Today, Sony announced that it will restore its gaming network across the continent, more than a month after falling prey to a crippling data breach. The company's PSN services are already up and running across other parts of the world and, beginning tomorrow, will light up once again in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and even Japan, which had been harboring serious reservations about the network's security. Gamers in South Korea and Hong Kong, meanwhile, will have to wait a little longer before returning to normalcy, though Sony is hoping to completely resolve the issue by the end of the month. The company certainly seems eager to put this saga to bed, and for understandable reasons. The incident has already cost Sony an estimated $171 million in revenue -- not to mention the untold numbers of suddenly wary consumers.

SONY ESTIMATES PSN BREACH TO COST $171 MILLION; EXPECTING $3.2 BILLION LOSS FOR YEAR

It has not been a good year for Sony, which was affected both by the massive earthquake in March and the PSN outage that spanned from April into May. There couldn't be any doubt that those things would have a drastic impact on the company's bottom-line, and it's now taking the time to give investors an idea of just how big an impact that could be -- even though the financial issues lie largely elsewhere. Sony is set to announce its full financial report for its fiscal year this Thursday and, to soften the blow, estimates have been revised steeply downward. Previously Sony predicted a ¥70 billion ($855 million) profit, but now thinks a ¥260 billion ($3.14 billion) loss is rather more accurate -- a ¥360 billion non-cash charge taking the wind out of ¥200 billion in operating income.

The earthquake was directly blamed for a loss of ¥22 billion, but that figure could certainly grow as this estimate is only through the end of March. Additionally, Sony has provided a early guess of a ¥14 billion (about $172 million) total cost for the PSN breach. That's less than two bucks per exposed account, but again we wouldn't be surprised if it's a figure that increases through the year.

SONY'S PLAYSTATION NETWORK PASSWORD RESET PAGE HACKED

According to reports from numerous gaming sites, the password reset page for Sony’s PlayStation Network has been exploited. Sony built the page in an effort to allow users, whose accounts were already compromised during a major security breach last month, to reset their security credentials.

However, hackers who stole the information from Sony can reset users’ passwords by knowing an account holder’s email address and birthday — information they’ve already stolen. Forum members on Nyleveia have suggested that PSN users create a new email address specifically for use with PSN.

Sony has taken the website offline, and said: “Unfortunately this also means that those who are still trying to change their password via PlayStation.com or Qriocity.com will still be unable to do so for the time being.”

SONY BEGINS PHASED RESTORATION OF PLAYSTATION NETWORK

After three weeks of waiting, and to many PSN users’ delight, Sony’s PlayStation Network is finally coming back. Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai announced on Saturday via video that Sony will begin a phased restoration process of its PSN services. Hirai said the company has been working “around the clock” to bring he services back online.

A mandatory firmware update on PS3 consoles is required to restore PSN service. This update, v3.6.1, will require that users change their passwords, which is understandable seeing as Sony confirmed earlier this month that over 23,000 credit card numbers and bank information had been stolen. Your new password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which your account was activated, or through a validated e-mail confirmation.

Patrick Seybold, Sony’s Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media, said in a blog post that the restoration process has started and some states already have access. He asked users to be patient as the restoration reaches more cities and states. You can visit Sony’s blog to see an updated map with locations in which service has been restored. It will take “several hours” to get the service back online throughout the entire U.S.

PLAYSTATION NETWORK AND QRIOCITY RESTORATION DATE MISSED, SONY BEGS FOR MORE TIME

If you'll recall, Sony held what can only be described as an emergency press event in Japan a week ago in order to issue a number of assurances about the resumption of service as it relates to the PlayStation Network and Qriocity. Seven days later, things are still as dead as they were pre-Cinco de Mayo.

This evening, the company's Senior Director of Corporate Communications Patrick Seybold punched out a quick update to let the world know that they could actually leave the house and find something else to entertain 'em, like it or not, PSN isn't coming back online today. The reason? On May 1st, Sony was apparently "unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers," and now, it's spinning its wheels in order to restore security on the network and "ensure" that user data is safe.

Mr. Seybold seems to understand that you're overly anxious about getting back into the swing of things, and he's even going so far as to ask your trust that Sony's doing "everything [it] can" to get the lights blinking once more. Oh, and if you were planning on visiting that source link just to find the new ETA... don't. Sony's planning to update you "as soon as it can."

SONY OFFERS FREE IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTIONS FOR PSN AND QRIOCITY USERS

Sony's announced that it will provide a complimentary one-year subscription to Debix's "AllClear ID Plus" identity theft protection service to all PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders in the United States, which will attempt to protect your personal data from harm, by both monitoring known criminal activity for your private digits and providing up to $1 million in ID theft insurance coverage. We've never used Debix, so we can't vouch for its reliability, and this particular plan admittedly doesn't look quite as comprehensive as the one Debix offers regular customers for $10 a month. Still, some peace of mind is a heck of a lot better than none, so we think we might take Sony up on its offer and sign up by the June 18th deadline.

SONY SAYS IT MAY HAVE "SOME" PSN/QRIOCITY SERVICES UP NEXT WEEK

As the PlayStation Network / Qriocity outage stretches into its second week, over on the PlayStation Blog rep Patrick Seybold has just posted an updated Q&A based on the inquiries of concerned users. Beyond the security of our personal information, the most important question is when service might be restored and he reiterates Sony expects to have "some services" up and running within a week from yesterday.

When it comes to the most important personal information like credit card numbers, there are assurances that the credit card database was encrypted and there is no evidence anything was taken, but that's a possibility that still cannot be ruled out completely. To keep things secure, Gamasutra reports game developers are getting new SDKs with updated security features as well. When the service comes back up, expect a mandatory system update that requires a new password before getting back to your Mortal Kombat or Portal 2-related plans.