SCEA: PlayStation Network Back Online 'Within the Week'

The U.S. PlayStation Blog has finally been updated with more information on what's going on with the PlayStation Network and what Sony is doing to expedite the process (thanks to Flamespeak and Andrew Eisen).

SCEA's Patrick Seybold (Sr. Director, Corporate Communications & Social Media) said that the service would be back on "within the week," and that they "have a clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online." This week's releases have been rescheduled for a later time as well - though when that time will be remains a mystery. A letter from SCEA has been sent to PSN account holders’ emails explaining the security breach of the network.

The letter details the steps that SCEA has taken to deal with what it calls a security breach including temporarily turning off PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and bringing in a high profile security firm to conduct a "full and complete investigation." SCEA also says that it has "enhanced security" by re-building the entire system.

On what exactly happened, the letter notes:

Although we are still investigating the details of this incident, we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. If you have authorized a sub-account for your dependent, the same data with respect to your dependent may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility. If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, out of an abundance of caution we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.

Finally, SCEA thanks PSN users for their patience:

We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1-800-345-7669 should you have any additional questions.

Source: U.S. PlayStation Blog