PS3 Archives - Page 22 of 73

Hackers Trying to Sell Credit Card Info Stolen From PSN?

Hackers in “underground” Internet forums have been talking about selling credit card information allegedly stolen during the recent PlayStation Network security attack. Forum chatter is easy to dismiss, but several security experts believe that there might be something there. Here’s a clip from The NY Times:

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. Mr. 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.

“Sony is saying the credit cards were encrypted, but we are hearing that the hackers made it into the main database, which would have given them access to everything, including credit card numbers,” said Mathew Solnik, a security consultant with iSEC Partners who frequents hacker forums to track new hacks and vulnerabilities that could affect his clients. Mr. Solnik said that people on the forums had details about the servers used by Sony, which may indicate that they had direct knowledge of the attack.

I’m not sure about this one. A lot of it seems like fear mongering. I also expect more from The NY Times. Using anonymous forum chatter as a news source is like writing a videogame story based on a NeoGAF thread. Oh wait, that actually happens.

Anyway, what do you guys and dolls make of this? Is it fear mongering? Or are millions of PlayStation Network users at risk?

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Read My Tomb Raider Trilogy Review (Please)!

I totally forgot to link to my Machinima.com review of Tomb Raider Trilogy for PlayStation 3. Please check it out when you get a chance. On the plus side, it offers a lot of gameplay for around $40 along with some developer diaries, PlayStation Home goodies, and an XMB theme. On the downside, the first two games look silly compared to Uncharted and Prince of Persia. Plus, the latest game — which is untouched in this compilation — can be had for $15. Here’s a quote:

Tomb Raider Trilogy offers dozens of hours of gaming, some fan directed bonus content, and really cool developer diaries. If you consider yourself a gaming history connoisseur it represents great value and a fascinating insight into the evolution of action-adventure titles. If you’re only into the latest and greatest then this is a tough sell. The two oldest games in the compilation look dated, despite the HD remastering. In terms of gameplay, the same two games have also been left in the dust by newer titles. Underworld, the newest game in the trilogy can be found for $15 or less. I enjoyed the special content in Tomb Raider Trilogy and had fun taking a stroll down memory lane. However, I can understand that nostalgia has no value to some gamers and they’d be better off buying Tomb Raider: Underworld for less than half the price of Tomb Raider Trilogy.

If you have a moment, please check out my review. If you have two moments, kindly leave a comment over at Machinima. Thanks!!!

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Will the PSN Outage Lead to More Xbox 360 Gamers?

Sony’s PlayStation Network security breach is arguably the biggest story this console generation. While writers and gamers alike are talking up the PSN outage, I have to question whether all this talk will lead to action. (I studied philosophy. I question everything.) According to a survey conducted by CouponCodes4U, more than 20 percent of people that are PS3 gamers are considering leaving for Xbox 360 due to the security breach. Here’s a clip from GamePolitics:

The survey found that 21 percent of PlayStation 3 owners said they were “considering selling their console in order to switch to rival console, the Microsoft Xbox 360.”

The majority of respondents — 89 percent — admitted that they were concerned for their personal data, with names, email addresses and assumed stolen by hackers. More than three fifths ( 65 percent) of video gamers said their trust in Sony and the PlayStation Network had been ‘greatly affected’, while just fewer than 9 percent said that it “hadn’t affected their trust at all.”

Keep in mind that the sample size of 2,132 people is relatively small. I’m inclined to dismiss the numbers because of the sample size. Still, the findings are fascinating. Sony has been picking up steam globally, with the PS3 recently overtaking the Xbox 360 in worldwide sales (depending on whose numbers you believe). Will the PSN security breach halt that momentum? Will gamers with PS3s only defect to the Xbox 360? What do you think the longterm damage of the “external intrusion” will be?

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GeoHot Addresses PSN Security Breach

Renowned hacker and former Sony target George Hotz (GeoHot) wrote an insightful and interesting blog post on the PlayStation Network security breach. Before he really gets going, he made it clear that he had nothing to do with the attack. Although he’s a proud hacker, he’s not the kind that engages in identity theft. He also feels that Sony spent too much time and money having lawyers go after hackers instead of firming up PSN security. Here’s an excerpt:

To anyone who thinks I was involved in any way with this, I’m not crazy, and would prefer to not have the FBI knocking on my door. Running homebrew and exploring security on your devices is cool, hacking into someone elses server and stealing databases of user info is not cool. You make the hacking community look bad, even if it is aimed at douches like Sony.

Also, let’s not fault the Sony engineers for this, the same way I do not fault the engineers who designed the BMG rootkit. The fault lies with the executives who declared a war on hackers, laughed at the idea of people penetrating the fortress that once was Sony, whined incessantly about piracy, and kept hiring more lawyers when they really needed to hire good security experts. Alienating the hacker community is not a good idea.

I highly recommend reading the entire post. There’s lots of great stuff in there and Hotz is in an extremely unique position to provide commentary on Sony.

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Coffee Talk #343: Consoles, Personal Information, and You

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, President Obama’s birth certificate, the fate of SETI, or your favorite Britney song, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With Sony’s revelation that user information — including credit card numbers — was compromised when PlayStation Network was hacked, I wanted to get your thoughts on tying your info to your consoles. I know that a few of you only make console purchases through gift cards and codes. Those of you that do are looking extra smart this week. For those of you that use your credit cards on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, are you wary of doing so now?

Personally, I’m not too worried about it. In my limited experience, my banks have been pretty good at alerting me about fraud attempts — if anything, they’ve been overly paranoid. Plus, it’s not like I have money or anything (ha!). In the particular case of PSN, I’m guessing that the hack was a result of Sony’s strong-arm stance against people like GeoHotz. I will, perhaps naively, assume that malice was intended towards Sony Computer Entertainment and not its customers.

Now it’s your turn! How do you feel about the issue? Are you paranoid? Are you carefree? Or somewhere in between?

Today’s Poll: Do You Like Sony Qriocity?

Not that you can currently use it on your PlayStation 3 at the moment (thanks to external intrusions), but I wanted to get your opinions on Sony’s Qriocity service. A unified approach to streaming music, movies, and television sounds great on paper, but there are separate services that do each of these things so well. I know that a lot of you are big on Netflix and some of you use Hulu. Some of you dig Pandora, while a few of you are Slacker or Last FM peeps. Do you think Qriocity can take the place of those services? Or is it just not good enough?

[poll id=”113″]

Coffee Talk #341: PSN Outage Compensation?

Millions of gamers have been inconvenienced by the PSN outage caused by “an external intrusion”. What do you think Sony will do, if anything, to make up for the PSN outage?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, CC Sabathia finally winning a game, the arrival of the white iPhone 4, or lava salts, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Sony is still scrambling to get its PlayStation Network service fully operational. Millions of gamers have been inconvenienced by the outage caused by “an external intrusion”. As RPadholic N8R pointed out, customers that pay for enhanced services like PlayStation Plus or subscribe to games like DC Universe Online have been especially put out. What do you think Sony will do to compensate gamers for the down time?

It would be fairly easy to tack on an additional month of PlayStation Plus service or add some extra time to a DCUO subscription, but is that enough? Do you think Sony will try to win back gamers by giving away something really cool? Or will it be something lame like a virtual t-shirt for PlayStation Home? (Though it would be funny to have an avatar wearing a shirt that said, “PSN Was Down for XX Days and All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt!!!”)

I’d be interested in seeing everyone get some PlayStation Plus time and a free downloadable game or two. It would be a nice gesture that could also get Sony some new Plus subscribers. Sony makes money, gamers get free stuff — everybody wins!!! (Well, not if you’re still angry about not being able to play Portal 2 with your friends last week.)

Now it’s your turn to speculate! What do you think Sony will do, if anything, to make up for the PSN outage?

What Caused the PlayStation Network Outage?

The recent PlayStation Network outage is pissing off millions of gamers. What caused (arguably) the biggest outage in PSN history? Some believe that the hackers at Anonymous have attacked Sony. Others believe that it’s merely a really bad technical malfunction. What do you think? Kindly take today’s poll and discuss!

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The Last Guardian Delayed Until 2012

It is with a heavy heart and a pained pancreas that I must tell you that The Last Guardian has been delayed. Originally set to hit us this holiday season, Team Ico’s upcoming game about a boy and his dragon-dog thing looks like it won’t arrive until next year. Here’s an official statement from director Fumito Ueda:

I announced at last year’s Tokyo Game Show that the release timing of The Last Guardian which is currently being developed would be holiday 2011.

However, to provide more challenging and better quality of content to users and to fulfill First Party Studio’s obligations, I decided to postpone its release timing.

All the members of my production team are working together at a fast pace to develop and release the game in First Party Studio quality.

I sincerely apologize to all the customers who have been waiting for “The Last Guardian” for so long, but I beg for your patience. I will also announce the new release timing at a later time.

With Dragon Age II and Pokemon Black/White already out, The Last Guardian was near the top of my list of 2011 releases I really wanted. I’m bummed that the game has been delayed, but I rather have a finished version than a rush job.

Any of you bummed by this news?

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This Week’s Videogame Releases

After a few lackluster weeks, Q2 2011 finally gets some hot videogame releases! Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat top the list. Flying under the radar is SOCOM 4. The PSP gets a spruced up version of one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time along with sequel content in Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection.

Any of you picking up new games this week?