SOE Security Compromise Update

[Confucius]

Well SOE, Sony Online Entertainment, has updated the soe.com site yesterday with more information about how they are repaying users for the downtime.

In case you don't know who SOE is they're the guys who made everquest I & II, DC Universe Online, and Star Wars Galaxies. Here is their update below.

We thank you for your patience as we continue to work around the clock to restore our game services. We know this has been a frustrating time for you and appreciate your understanding as we work to confirm the security of our network.
In light of the recent outage of Sony Online Entertainment's game services due to April's cyber-attack, we are committed to compensating our loyal player base for the inconvenience caused by the data breach and lost game time while we improve our security measures.

We are currently in the process of an extensive upgrade to our network to further protect your information from future attacks. It will likely be at least a few more days before we restore our services, and when we come back online, here is what you can expect for each of our game services.

First and foremost, all impacted players will receive 30 days of game time added to the end of the current billing cycle in addition to one day for each day the system is down. Additionally, many games are offering a variety of in-game items and special events to welcome players back once our services resume (per the outline below). This is true for both PC and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system based products.

• DC Universe™ Online: Batman™ and Two-Face™ Inspired Masks and 30 Marks of Distinction
• Free Realms®: Free daily items (7 to collect)
• Clone Wars Adventures™: Count Dooku v2 Outfit
• EverQuest®: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Rare Mob Spawns and Double Faction Gains
• EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended: A series of events, including Double XP, Double Guild XP, Loot Bonanza, and City Festivals
• Vanguard: Saga of Heroes®: A series of Double XP events
• Star Wars Galaxies™: Bounty Hunter Statue, a miniature model of Boba Fett's ship, the Slave I™
• Magic: The Gathering - Tactics™: Four of each of these spells: "Ivory Mask", "Duress" and "Angelheart Vial", plus 500 Station Cash
• PoxNora®: Limited edition Carrionling, Welcome Back 5K Gold Award Tournaments and two Draft Tournaments, plus 500 Station Cash

For our lifetime subscribers, we'll grant in-game currency; specifically 20,000 coins for Free Realms, 7,500 Galactic Credits for Clone Wars Adventures and 10 Marks of Distinction for DC Universe Online (in addition to the items listed above).

And finally, our Station Access subscribers will receive 500 Station Cash, in addition to the subscription time and items listed above.

Additionally, we announced today that SOE will provide its U.S.-based Station Account holders with complimentary enrollment in an identity theft protection program through Debix, one of the industry's most reputable identity protection firms. For Station Account holders who live outside the U.S., SOE will be offering similar programs, if and as available, and will provide details as they're confirmed for each country or territory.

We continue to work around the clock to restore SOE's services and thank you for your continued patience as we complete our investigation of this criminal attack.

Thank you,
Sony Online Entertainment

It also seems residents of Massachusetts and Puerto Rico could be in trouble as SOE has released statements specifically for those locations which can be found here: https://www.soe.com/securityupdate/massachusetts.vm and here: https://www.soe.com/securityupdate/puertorico.vm

It is good to know that sony is dealing with these attacks in such a good way, offering users compromise and also giving all US SOE users free ID Protection through Debix.

If you don't know what Debix is here's some information from Sony regarding the matter.

On Monday, May 2, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) announced that it will provide complimentary enrollment in an identity theft protection program.

Following are the details of this program for Station Account holders in the United States only. For Station Account holders who live in another country or territory, SOE will implement a similar program and provide more information on these programs as arrangements are made.

SOE has made arrangements with Debix, Inc., one of the industry's most reputable identity protection firms, to offer AllClear ID PLUS at no cost to Station Account holders for 12 months from the time an account holder registers for the program.

Details, including how to sign up for the program, will be emailed to Station Account holders in the United States soon, and you will have until June 28, 2011 to sign-up and redeem your code. Additionally, Station Account holders will be required to reset their password prior to signing up for this program as an added security measure.

The details of the program include, but are not limited to:

• Cyber monitoring and surveillance of the Internet to detect exposure of an AllClear ID PLUS customer's personal information, including monitoring of criminal web sites and data recovered by law enforcement. If his/her personal information is found, the customer will be alerted by phone and/or email and will be provided advice and support regarding protective steps to take. The customer will also receive monthly identity status reports. Debix works with an alliance of cyber-crime experts from the government, academia and industry to provide these services.
• Priority access to licensed private investigators and identity restoration specialists. If an AllClear ID PLUS customer receives an alert, or otherwise suspects that he/she may be the victim of identity theft, the customer can speak directly, on a priority basis, with an on-staff licensed private investigator, who will conduct a comprehensive inquiry. In the case of an identity theft, the customer can work with an identity restoration specialist to contact creditors and others, and take necessary steps to restore the customer's identity.
• A $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user to provide additional protection in the event that an AllClear ID PLUS customer becomes a victim of identity theft. This insurance would provide financial relief of up to $1 million for covered identity restoration costs, legal defense e

xpenses, and lost wages that occur within 12 months after the stolen identity event.

Additionally, these emails will be sent by Innovyx, our third party email distributor, and will contain 'soe.innovyx.net' or 'soe.sony.com' in the sender field.

We continue to work around the clock to have SOE's services restored, and will be providing you specific details shortly.

Thank you,
Sony Online Entertainment

So far Sony has dealt with this problem very well in my opinion, offering constant updates, working hard on fixing it, and even giving users of all games compensation. Hopefully Sony will have these security flaws fixed soon so they are not only more secure but also so we can all get back to playing our games.

[Dr. Doom]

ignore post

[Aldun]

It's nice to see what they do to compensate. Ofcourse they didn't really have a choice but it's good that in addition to compensating lost gametime they also add events and that kind of things. It hasn't been entirely their fault so, /respect, Sony.

[Confucius]

Didn't someone recently write an article about this this week? o.O

Yes JD wrote an article about the playstation network: http://www.mmowned.com/forums/news/s...n-network.html

This one is about an update from SOE, sony's MMO division.

[Dr. Doom]

My bad, I didn't know you posted it without posting in news team section haha, my bad. Took down the flame, sorry confucius.

[Gnawnsense]

The compensation is excellent, but it's also expected.

Funny thing; when the servers went down I was looking to leave RIFT and hit something else up. Being I was an EverQuest head back in the day, I purchased it to play on the new-ish progression server. Was also getting a taste of EverQuest 2 again after a few years to see what improvements were made, and was honestly 100% contemplating reactivating my Vanguard subscription if the progression server on EverQuest was disappointing.

Sadly enough, during the time it's been gone, I actually sold my PS3, unsubscribed from EverQuest, and uninstalled the only other two SOE games I had on my HD (EQ2, Vanguard).

There was a steady increase in players lately in Vanguard and EverQuest, too. I just can't help but think this was the nail on the coffin for the subscriber base of Vanguard, and I do see this having a major impact on the surge of subscribers the progression server for EverQuest was seeing. Quite unfortunate timing for this to happen and still not be resolved. Glad they're working towards a solution, tho.

[JD]

Thanks for the update mate