The PlayStation Network and Qriocity media services have begun to be restored in a phased manner, according to a post on the PlayStation Blog on Saturday, which was preceded by an apologetic announcement by Sony’s Kaz Hirai (see below). Down since April 19th, members were only informed of the breach more than a week later. The services have taken nearly a month to restore, and have now been accompanied by a mandatory security patch in the form of firmware v3.61 for the PlayStation 3 console.
[RELATED_ARTICLE]The restoration roll-out has begun, starting with the United States (where nearly half of all 77 million PSN members reside), the rest of North America, and Europe. News from Australia and New Zealand indicates that services have started to resume there as well. As for the rest of the world, Sony has announced it expects to finish the global roll-out process by May 31.
While the overall response from members seems to be positive, many of them hope the 3.61 update will contain more than just security updates, but also some of the many features they’ve wanted for years. The roll-out so far has not been perfect, with the services shutting down intermittently over the past two days, as millions of users rush in trying to change their passwords, similar to what happened with the LastPass servers recently.
For details on how to change your password, read on:
If using a PS3, your password can only be changed on your own PS3 (or a PS3 on which your PSN account was activated), as an added layer of security. If you have never downloaded any content using your account on the system, an email will be sent to the registered sign-in ID (email address) associated with your account when you first attempt to sign-in to PSN. This e-mail will contain a link that will enable you to change your password. In this email, click on the link and follow the instructions to change your password. Once you have changed your password you can sign-in to your account using your new password.