Although Sony missed their target date of May 31 for all services to be back online, it looks like things are finally up and running for the most part.

Sony had restored partial service in mid-May but due to some necessary security upgrades, was unable to restore access to the PlayStation Store until yesterday.

During the outage, Sony had promised a variety of free games and other incentives to inconvenienced customers as a “Welcome Back” bonus, but so far they are not available. Grace Chen, PlayStation Store director, posted in her blog that the “Welcome Back” goodies promised will be ready for download in the near future.

To keep gamers entertained until then there are a host of new games and free demos available.

Sony PlayStation Store Finally Back Online

The gamer blog Nyleveia discovered the problem, and Eurogamer made a successful attempt at exploiting the security hole. Sony requires PSN users to reset their password once before they can log back in and play games.

However, a password can be reset for a second time using only a birthday and an email address. Both pieces of information were taken in last month’s hacking of the PSN.

PSN account holders who log in via the Internet appear to be the only ones affected, but the incident is another black eye for Sony. The company allowed hackers to access the data for 77 million PSN accounts in April. Hackers have also compromised a database of about 25 million subscribers for Sony’s Online Entertainment division.

Sony has declined to comment about the latest password problem, but the official Playstation Blog claims that the password reset function was temporarily disabled for safety reasons and not due to hackers.

More of the PSN’s security holes may be found soon. A security expert has recently testified to a Congressional subcommittee that Sony is using outdated server software that remains highly vulnerable.

Sony Takes Playstation Network (PSN) Down Again

The latest issue involves a vulnerability with password resets that allowed account passwords to be reset with only the email address and birth date of the account holder on file as verification.

In a blog entry posted yesterday, Patrick Seybold of Sony Corporate Communications said that there had been a URL exploit that has been fixed by the company. He assured users that there was no additional hack of the site and encouraged them to reset their passwords via their personal PS3 consoles or on the website once it is back online, although he gave no indication to when that would be.

It has been suggested by some in the industry to set up a new email account to be used only for your PlayStation account and not to list it in public directories. This should add a layer of security for those who had information stolen in the original hack last month.

Restoration of the PlayStation Network and Qriocity is ongoing.

Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) Is Down Once Again

Once again, the Sony PlayStation Network is offline, this time because of a security glitch with the sign-in protocols.

Sony’s PSN was launched over the weekend worldwide with a statement that security protocols had been rebuilt and enhanced to better protect customer information.

Unfortunately, there is a glitch in the log-in program that allows passwords to be reset by simply entering the email address registered to the account and the birth date on file rendering the new passwords created by millions of PSN users worthless, since this information was stolen during the massive security breach discovered in April.

Sony issued a statement on Tuesday to confirm that the service was again offline and that there was no clear time frame for resolution of the current issue.

They did state that users will still be able to use their personal game consoles to access PSN, and that only the websites Playstation.com and Qriocity.com were affected. These sites are where users perform password and email changes.

Howard Stringer, the Sony CEO, told a group of reporters that the security protocols for PSN had been revamped during the weeks when the service was down but that there are no guarantees for 100 percent security on any system.

Sony Playstation Network (PSN) Down Again: Users Frustrated

After taking nearly a month to relaunch its Playstation Network following an April 20 attack that compromised personal information of nearly 90 million users, Sony once again locked players out of the network for security issues.

Despite promising ramped up security measures to gamers angered by having their names, addresses, e-mail addresses, dates of birth, and possibly even credit card information stolen in the April hack, the new security features included a serious loophole.

The loophole allowed passwords to be reset using only the date of birth and e-mail address of the user, which was already compromised during the April hack, meaning those responsible for the attack were still able to get into Playstation Network users’ accounts.

While Sony has taken the login function down to work on fixing the loophole, users are able to access the network on their consoles. The password reset screen, which is the source of the latest security issue, is a necessary step for Playstation Network users as the company is requiring users to come up with a new password after information was compromised last month.

However, until the company figures out how to fix the logic loophole, the password reset screen will be unavailable.

Sony Playstation Network (PSN) Down Again After Less Then A Month

For those that did go online they were required to download and install an update along with changing their online password. Users did find that the network was going up and down. Players said they were able to play for a while but then their connection was lost.

Playstation says that this is not a full network restore. As of the time players are eligible to being playing online games, enjoy streaming music and chat services. Sony has announced that it looks to have a full restore of the Network by the end of May.

In Japan and Asia the network has not been restored as governments in those countries are concerned about the security of the network.

Return Of The Playstation Network

In a report issued by Nikkei, Sony is being blocked from bringing service online by authorities in Japan pending proof that they have put two new security protocols in place.

The two areas outlined in the report are preventative measures against future intrusion by unauthorized access and the other issue was for Sony to show that the security measures now employed will be adequate to protect the network in light of their previous countermeasures that allowed the breach of security to happen.

Redeployment of the network has been a bit bumpy due to scores of anxious users ready to get back to battling the forces of evil, causing a temporary shutdown of 30 minutes at one point.

The question now: Is the PlayStation Network safer now than it was before?

PlayStation Network Up And Running - Just Not In Japan

Nearly three weeks after the PlayStation Network was hacked, Sony engineers are still scrambling to restore order. On Sunday, April 24th, hackers sent unwanted Easter gifts to millions of gamers all around the world, throwing off their daily routines of heroic carnage. Sony has provided little information to assuage the anxious masses.

Retailers are bearing the largest brunt of the network fallout. Units that usually fly off of the shelves by the dozens are now clogging up warehouses of electronics stores, as very few gamers are interested in laying down several hundred dollars to purchase a unit that is not currently in proper working order.

What’s worse, many of PS3′s most popular games are played primarily on the online network, leaving gamers with few reasons to purchase them until order is restored to the network.

Earlier in the week, Cnet.com reported that another massive hack may be on its way to the already compromised network. Much like what happened to the Toyota Corporation after a few waves of massive automobile recalls, the Sony brand is likely to take a huge hit in terms of trustworthiness and marketability, which it can only hope to rebuild over the course of future years.

Playstation Network (PSN) Still Down, Back Online Is TBA

According to Sony Online Entertainment the hackers may have stolen personal information from millions of users. The company is now in the process of notifying the users who may have had their information stolen. According to Sony, the company will do their best to make up their mistake with their customers. While it is not clear what that means, the current situation has led to the creation of several class-action lawsuits which are threatening to sue the company over their lack of security. One of the lawsuits is seeking over $1 billion in damages and will likely request that Sony pay for a credit monitoring service for all of its customers.

While the Sony Playstation Network is still offline, the company does expect it to come back in the near future.

Sony Playstation Network (PSN) Still Not Online

Last week, hackers penetrated security gaining access to almost 80 million accounts in a breach of the company’s extensive user data base, with possible exposure of personal and credit card data of up to 10 million user accounts.

Sony announced on Saturday that the service will be restored by region, and access in some areas of Japan has already been reported but as yet, is unconfirmed by the company.

The most recent statement from Sony officials is that they will start restoring access to the music, video and gaming portions of the network and offered apologies to their customers regarding the disruption to their service.

Sony has said that they are planning to extend rewards to users to compensate them for the disruption of the network and is committed to enhancing the security of account data.

No date has been officially confirmed by Sony regarding when services will be completely restored.

Sony Online Entertainment, the world’s largest online gaming presence, is working with authorities to determine where the attacks originated.

Play Station Network Restored In Some Areas