Sony PS3 hacker accepts Ipad 2 jailbreak challenge

FORMER SONY PLAYSTATION 3 HACKER George Hotz, who uses the nym Geohot, has agreed to an Ipad 2 jailbreak challenge, according to a fellow hacker.



Iphone hacker Joshua Hill said on his Twitter account that he has challenged Hotz to "dump the Ipad 2 BootROM" before he can. Hill said Hotz accepted the challenge, and that the famous PS3 hacker "didn't have an iPad yet but he's getting one soon".



You would think Hotz had enough of taking on mighty corporations after his dealings with Sony, which filed a lawsuit against him threatening to unleash fire and brimstone after he successfully hacked the Playstation 3. This legal dustup led to Anonymous attacks against Sony, with the litigation finally ending in a settlement last month.



But before the PS3 business Hotz had been well known for jailbreaking Iphones and he appears ready to try again with the latest version of IOS, although it's surprising that somebody else hasn't managed to do it already, considering that Apple's shiny Ipad 2 has been out for some time.



But Hotz did say that there are some difficulties in jailbreaking the Ipad 2. He said in a blog post last month, "This is going to take quite a bit of reverse-engineering in order to get it to work. Apple is making it more and more difficult to jailbreak their devices."



It's unlikely that Hotz will attract the attention of Apple's lawyers, however, as although the cappuccino company doesn't like it, jailbreaking IOS isn't actually illegal, and indeed has become an accepted way of using Iphones and Ipads and playing around with programs without having to deal with the restrictions of Apple's App Store.



Hotz added, "Getting the iPad 2 jailbroken would mean that we are one step closer to jailbreak all the rest of the Apple iDevices coming this year including iPhone 5, iPod touch 5G or any new form of Apple TV they may introduce."

Read more: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2047119/sony-ps3-hacker-accepts-ipad-jailbreak-challenge#ixzz1LvtR3aW8

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As Sony struggles to get PSN back up,new details emerge

With the PlayStation Network expected to be back up within a matter of days, Sony's statements to a US House subcommittee seem to point the finger on responsibility back at hacktivist group Anonymous, which initially denied involvement .


PlayStation chief Kazuo Hirai told Congress in a letter that the company was a victim ofa sophisticated attack. As part of the hack, a file was planted on the company's serversnamed "Anonymous" with the words "We Are Legion." He said the company understood the full scope of the attack by April 25 , but could not rule out the compromising of credit card data.


The statement seems somewhat at odds with the company's public statements, which up until at least April 29 seemed to suggest that credit card data had not been touched. Regardless of that fact, Hirai said that Sony had not received any reports of fraud that was believed to be connected to the PSN hack.


Sony's hack is one of several being investigated by the feds, US Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed to Reuters Wednesday.


"I am of course aware of the criticism Sony has received for the time taken to disclose information to our customers," Hirai wrote. "I hope you can appreciate the extraordinary nature of the events the company was facing -- brought on by a criminal hacker whose activity was neither immediately nor easily ascertainable."

via http://www.betanews.com/article/print/As-Sony-struggles-to-get-PSN-back-up-new-details-emerge/1304538963

Sony takes Online Entertainment offline in hack query

The Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) site, a multiplayer online game service, said "SOE MAINTENANCE In Progress," followed by a message: "Dear Valued SOE Customers, We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday). We apologize for any inconvenience and greatly appreciate your patience."



The company said that during its investigation into the PlayStation Network breach it discovered that attackers may have also obtained Sony Online Entertainment customer names, addresses, email addresses, gender, birth dates, phone numbers, log-in names, and hashed passwords.



For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Sony Online Entertainment data may have been stolen on CNET News.



read more at http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/security-threats/2011/05/03/sony-takes-online-entertainment-offline-in-hack-query-40092638/

Sony warns of another 24.6 million users hacked

Sony says that hackers may have stolen the personal details of an extra 24.6 million users after an intrusion at Sony Online Entertainment, or SOE, its multiplayer online gaming service.



 Sony has warned of a second big security breach, saying that hackers may have stolen the personal details of 24.6 million multiplayer online game users, including passwords, names, addresses and credit card information.



This is on top of the 77 million users who the company admitted last week may have had their personal data stolen after the PlayStation Network was hacked.

The latest data theft is connected not with PlayStation, but rather it affects accounts registered with Sony Online Entertainment, or SOE, that company’s popular multiplayer online gaming service.



Sony said that hackers may have stolen about 12,700 credit card or debit card numbers from countries outside the United States, as well as 10,700 direct debit records of users in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.



An ongoing investigation by Sony revealed that the latest attack by hackers may have occurred on April 16 and 17, earlier than the PlayStation breach which occurred from April 17-19, the company said.



The latest data hack is another setback for Sony, with the bad news coming just days after executives with the Japanese company apologized to gamers and promised a security overhaul of its PlayStation Network.



As a result of the security breach, Sony has temporarily shut its service to multiplayer online games available on personal computers, Facebook and PlayStation 2. Sony said it will give players an extra 30 days on their subscriptions, plus one day for each day the system is down.



read more at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business-tech/technology-news/110503/sony-online-entertainment-soe-online-games-hacked

Sony data breach credit card fraud reports emerge

Ars Technica readers blame PlayStation network hack. Following the massive PlayStation network data breach involving the theft of millions of user's personal information, reports have emerged of credit card fraud which the victims blame on the Sony breach.
While PC tech site Ars Technica was careful not to state that recent credit card fraud experienced by the site's readers could be confirmed as a result of the Sony breach, a large number of Ars readers reported credit card fraud they believed was related to the Sony data theft.
"The number of Ars Technica readers who have had issues with their credit cards in the past few days, and have commented, e-mailed, or Tweeted about the issue, is alarming," wrote Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera.
One such reader told the site that their American Express card had been falsely charged over the weekend. "This card sits in a drawer in my house for emergencies, but I did use it once on my PSP for an account," they said.
Sony yesterday posted a Q&A update, saying "the entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken" but added "we cannot rule out the possibility."

Playstation hack hits three million Brits

London - Millions of Britons may be issued with new credit cards over fears their banking details have been stolen by thieves hacking into the Sony PlayStation Network.


The personal information of 77 million people around the world is thought to have been compromised.
Some three-million Britons - who use the Sony system to play computer games against people in the UK and other countries - have been caught up in the biggest criminal hack on record.


The theft of data includes names, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses and log-in details.


Credit card details may also have been taken. The bank industry body Financial Fraud Action UK has issued an alert to victims.


It said it was working with Sony to identify British consumers involved and set up alerts on their credit card accounts to check for unusual use or purchases.


A spokesman added that if accounts were hijacked by criminals, banks would set up new accounts and issue new cards.


He said:“The banking industry has robust processes in place to protect customers’accounts by monitoring for suspicious transactions.”


FFA UK said there was no need for customers to contact their bank or card company at this stage.

However, it added that customers should check statements and keep an eye on accounts for unusual activity.


There are concerns that many people use the same password for their Sony account as for other online activities, including banking.
FFA UK warned:“We recommend that they should change these passwords as soon as possible.


“Similarly, customers may have had their email addresses and telephone numbers compromised, so they should be wary of responding to any unsolicited emails or phone calls.”


It said innocent victims of fraud will get their money back from their bank or card company. The Information Commissioner has launched an investigation, saying it takes such incidents“extremely seriously”.


The Sony hack is the latest in a number of web security breaches to hit consumers in recent weeks.

Millions of customers of Marks&Spencer, Play.com and TripAdvisor have had personal details stolen.
Sony has shut down its PlayStation Network, apologised to customers and announced an independent security review. However, many customers complained that it took a full week to reveal the extent of the breach.


HOW TO STOP THE CRIMINALS
Victims of hacking have been warned to watch out for spam emails,“spear phishing”attacks - targeted attempts to acquire confidential information - and unauthorised spending.


Spammers will send out emails which look like a genuine communication. Victims will be asked to fill in an online form.


Often spam will come with an attachment. Clicking on it will automatically download malicious software - malware - which is used to steal passwords.


The best advice when dealing with a suspect email is to delete it and never open attachments. - Daily Mail

PlayStation Breach good news: credit card info encrypted

One Aussie believes he has lost$2000 in the Sony PlayStation Network breach, his credit card apparently compromised.  Is he just the tip of a 75 million plus user iceberg?  Not according to recent information coming out of Sony.
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Find out how - FREE Featured Whitepaper Sony had a security breach, losing personal data details of over 75 million users of the PlayStation Network, the online network used byPlayStation 3 owners for multiplayer gaming, movie downloads and more.
Sony Computer Entertainment Australia responded to iTWire regarding the breach and some limited advice for those fearful of having been compromised.  But the question about credit card details and just what leaked information was ‘in the clear’ was left hanging.
Over at Gamepron.com there is a report of Rory Spreckley, who allegeshis credit card, the same one he uses on the PlayStation Network, has had some dubious transactions applied since the breach.
“I logged into my bank account just to check everything was OK and I found out there was some just over$2,000 in charges which I didn’t personally accrue.” Spreckley claims “There was a number of early transactions on the 23rd of amounts under $1, which they say is the usual kind of test run that fraudsters do and then there’s been a number of transactions of larger amounts, including domestic flights within Australia, bookings at Best Westerns [hotels] and what not.”
Not exactly firm evidence, but worrying.  Over at the official PlayStation blog however, a recent post by Senior Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media at Sony, Patrick Seybold seemsto allay some fears.
Seybold answers some of the burning questions including the simple query of just how credit card information was stored in the network.

Sony: Stolen PlayStation credit data was encrypted

NEW YORK -- Sony is telling PlayStation users that it had encrypted the credit card data that hackers may have stolen, reducing the chances that thieves could have used the information.


Sony Corp. says that while it had no direct evidence the data were even taken, it cannot rule out the possibility. It did not say how strong the encryption was, and it's possible for hackers to decipher files that are weakly encrypted.



On Tuesday, Sony said account information, including names, birthdates, e-mail addresses and log-in information, was compromised for certain players using its PlayStation Network. In a blog post Wednesday, Sony said that data had not been encrypted and had been kept in a separate location from the credit card information.

Sony reagiert auf Hacker-Angriff

Schon seit mehreren Tagen können Besitzer einer Playstation nicht mehr online spielen. Jetzt gibt der Konzern den Grund bekannt: Hacker hätten den Dienst attackiert.



Playstation-Spieler müssen derzeit auf den Onlinedienst der Konsole verzichten. Die Fehlermeldung "80710A06" taucht beim Versuch auf, sich einzuloggen. Online spielen ist derzeit nicht möglich. Zunächst war über Twitter lapidar von "Wartungsarbeiten" die Rede, jetzt hat Sony die Katze aus dem Sack gelassen.
Offenbar haben Hacker das Playstation Network angegriffen. Es habe ein "Eindringen von Außen" gegeben, heißt es im Blog des Unternehmens. Dies habe die Funktionsfähigkeit beeinträchtigt. Ob Nutzerdaten betroffen sind, ist nicht bekannt. Auch wer hinter den Angriffen steckt, teilte Sony nicht mit.
Der Konzern untersucht nach eigener Aussage den Fall genau und will das Playstation Network erst wieder verfügbar machen, wenn der "sichere Betrieb" gewährleistet ist. Einen Zeitpunkt nannte das Unternehmen nicht.

Via http://mobil.n-tv.de/technik/Sony-reagiert-auf-Hacker-Angriff-article3170421.html

Sony Makes it Official: PlayStation Network Hacked

Sony has confirmed that it took its PlayStation Network and Qriocity service offline to recoverfrom a hack attack
Posted on Saturday Apr 23, 2011 7:35 AM by Keir Thomas
When Sony's PlayStation Network was taken offline three days ago , all eyes fell on the Anonymous group, who've takena dislike to Sony over its treatment of hardware hacker George Hotz . The network allowsonline play between PlayStation 3 consoles and boasts 70 million users, so this is no small inconvenience.
Last night Sony confessed that an "external intrusion" caused the company to take-down the PlayStation Network and also Sony's Qriocity service in order"to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward". However, they're not saying anything more, or giving a time scale as to when gamers will be able to resume playing online.
What makes it strange is that Anonymous has denied being involved, claiming " for once we didn't do it " and suggesting Sony was using rumors of an Anonymous attack as cover for an internal problem with their servers. As yet Anonymous hasn't responded to the latest update from Sony.
However, the decentralized nature of Anonymous means thatindividuals act alone with no governance, and Anonymous admitted that "it could be the case that other Anons have actedby themselves.
Via http://www.pcworld.com/article/226128/sony_makes_it_official_playstation_network_hacked.html