Sony's Password Reset System Has Been Compromised... Yes I'm Serious

Sony just cannot catch a break, they finally get the PSN up and running after nearly a month of downtime only to have the website version of the PSN password reset be exploited.

Late last night Nyleveia discovered--Eurogamer and NeoGaf have confirmed--that Sony's password reset system can be used by any would-be hacker to reset your password using only your PSN account email and birth date. And as easily as that someone can exploit your password and gain access to your account. Both of those pieces of information were of course up for grabs during the recen PSN hack, thankfully if your password was changed you would have at least recieved an email notifying you.

Sony has since pulled down all of their web-based login systems, with no word currently on when they'll be up again. The official twitter account of the SCEE stated this morning "this maintenance doesn't affect PSN on consoles, only the website you click through to from the password change email." Which (to clarify) means you can still log into and play games via PSN, you just can't use any website logins until this is fixed.

We've contacted Sony for a statement.

Sony Beginning Regional Restoration of PlayStation Network Starting Today [UPDATED]

UPDATE: PlayStation Executive Kaz Hirai appeared in a video published to the PlayStation Blog minutes ago where he went over Sony's process for the situation and some new security measures for PlayStation users.

"I'd like to send my sincere apologies for the inconvenience the service outage has caused you," said Hirai, "and want to thank you for all the patience that you've shown as we've worked through this restoration process. Since the attacks on our networks, we've been working around the clock to bring game and media services back online."

Hirai spoke about new additions to the PSN's internal security system to avoid situations like this in the future, new features like advanced security technology, increased levels of encryption, additional firewalls and an early warning detection system.

Sony is also offering identity theft services to customers in regions where such services are available.

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It's almost over, things are almost back to normal.

Sony has issued a press release which details a region-by-region "phased restoration" of the PlayStation Network, starting with the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. It sounds like some PSN functionality (in the Americas at least) will be up and running by the end of the day today, with functionality fully restored world wide by the end of the month.

The first of multiple phases will include the following features according to the press release.

• Sign in functionality for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including resetting passwords
• Restoration of online gameplay across PS3 and PSP
• Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation Home
• ‘Friends’ category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
• Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and MLB.tv
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC

As soon as we have more news on rollout details we'll let you know.