Sony offers $1 million identity theft insurance policy for users affected with PSN hack

Last weekend, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it will provide complimentary enrollment in an identity theft protection program. Here are the details of this program for PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders in the United States only. Sony said it is working to make similar programs available in other countries/territories where applicable.

Sony has made arrangements with Debix Inc., an identity protection firm, to offer AllClear ID Plus at no cost to PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders for 12 months from the time an account holder registers for the program.

Sony will start sending out activation emails for this program over the next few days, and users in US will have until June 18th to sign-up and redeem their code. Users will need to sign up directly through AllClearID, not on Sony’s websites, and details, including step-by-step instructions for the program, will be emailed to United States PSN and Qriocity Account holders soon.

The details of the program include:

• Cyber monitoring and surveillance of the Internet to detect exposure of an AllClear ID Plus customer’s personal information, including monitoring of criminal web sites and data recovered by law enforcement. If his/her personal information is found, the customer will be alerted by phone and/or email and will be provided advice and support regarding protective steps to take. The customer will also receive monthly identity status reports. Debix works with an alliance of cyber-crime experts from the government, academia and industry to provide these services.
• Priority access to licensed private investigators and identity restoration specialists. If an AllClear ID Plus customer receives an alert, or otherwise suspects that he/she may be the victim of identity theft, the customer can speak directly, on a priority basis, with an on-staff licensed private investigator, who will conduct a comprehensive inquiry. In the case of an identity theft, the customer can work with an identity restoration specialist to contact creditors and others, and take necessary steps to restore the customer’s identity.
• A $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user to provide additional protection in the event that an AllClear ID Plus customer becomes a victim of identity theft. This insurance would provide financial relief of up to $1 million for covered identity restoration costs, legal defense expenses, and lost wages that occur within 12 months after the stolen identity event.

Sony details compensation for PSN users, plans services restoration

Sony is expected to begin a phased restoration by region of PlayStationNetwork and Qriocity services, beginning with gaming, music and video services to be turned on. The company today announced both a series of immediate steps to enhance security across the network and a new customer appreciation program, filled with freebies to ‘thank its customers’ for their patience and loyalty.

Following a criminal cyber-attack on the company’s data-center located in San Diego, California, U.S.A., Sony quickly turned off the PSN and Qriocity services, engaged multiple expert information security firms over the course of several days and conducted an extensive audit of the system. Since then, the company has implemented a variety of new security measures to provide greater protection of personal information. SNEI and its third-party experts have conducted extensive tests to verify the security strength of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. With these measures in place, SCE and SNEI plan to start a phased rollout by region of the services shortly. The initial phase of the rollout will include the following:

• Restoration of Online game-play across the PlayStation3 (PS3) and PSP (PlayStation®Portable) systems
• This includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStationHome
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality

Working closely with several outside security firms, the company has implemented significant security measures to further detect unauthorized activity and provide consumers with greater protection of their personal information. The company is also creating the position of Chief Information Security Officer, directly reporting to Shinji Hasejima, Chief Information Officer of Sony Corporation, to add a new position of expertise in and accountability for customer data protection and supplement existing information security personnel. The new security measures implemented include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Added automated software monitoring and configuration management to help defend against new attacks
• Enhanced levels of data protection and encryption
• Enhanced ability to detect software intrusions within the network, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns
• Implementation of additional firewalls

The company also expedited an already planned move of the system to a new data center in a different location that has been under construction and development for several months. In addition, PS3 will have a forced system software update that will require all registered PlayStation Network users to change their account passwords before being able to sign into the service. As an added layer of security, that password can only be changed on the same PS3 in which that account was activated, or through validated email confirmation, a critical step to help further protect customer data.

The company is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion.

“This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security. We take the security of our consumers’ information very seriously and are committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data. In addition, the organization has worked around the clock to bring these services back online, and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks,” said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation. “Our global audience of PlayStation Network and Qriocity consumers was disrupted. We have learned lessons along the way about the valued relationship with our consumers, and to that end, we will be launching a customer appreciation program for registered consumers as a way of expressing our gratitude for their loyalty during this network downtime, as we work even harder to restore and regain their trust in us and our services.”

The freebies

Sony will also rollout the PlayStation Network and Qriocity “Welcome Back” program, to be offered worldwide, which will be tailored to specific markets to provide our consumers with a selection of service options and premium content as an expression of the company’s appreciation for their patience, support and continued loyalty.

• Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon.
• All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service.
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service.

Additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions.

Sony will continue to reinforce and verify security for transactions before resuming the PlayStationStore and other Qriocity operations, scheduled for this month.

Sony hints at compensation as hackers start selling credit card data for $100,000

According to NewYork Times report, security researchers have said that they had seen discussions on underground Internet forums indicating that the hackers who infiltrated the Sony PlayStation Network last week may have made off with the credit card numbers of Sony customers. Sony has already accepted the breach in its networks and a possibility of credit card data being stolen with it.

The comments indicated that the hackers had a database that included customer names, addresses, usernames, passwords and as many as 2.2 million credit card numbers, the researchers said. Kevin Stevens, senior threat researcher at the security firm Trend Micro, said he had seen talk of the database on several hacker forums, including indications that the Sony hackers were hoping to sell the credit card list for upwards of $100,000. Stevens said one forum member told him the hackers had even offered to sell the data back to Sony but did not receive a response from the company.

While these are good enough reasons for any PSN user to be worried at the moment (making Sony’s infamous hack the fourth largest ever reported), Sony is trying to pacify the users’ ire by hinting at a compensation package.

To thank players for their patience, Sony will be hosting special events across its game portfolio. Sony is also working on a “make good” plan for players of the PS3 versions of DC Universe Online and Free Realms. Details will be available soon on the individual game websites and forums.

“We are currently evaluating ways to show appreciation for your extraordinary patience as we work to get these services back online,” Sony said in a statement.

Whether this would pacify the users or not would actually depend on what exactly Sony comes up with as a compensation plan. The Japanese major is already losing its highly loyal users to Microsoft’s Xbox due to this prolonged outage of PSN.

Meanwhile, Sony is also working on a new system software update that will require all users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored. Sony is expected to provide more details about the new update very soon.