Sony apologizes for PlayStation breach, offers compensation

Sony announced Sunday that parts of the PlayStation Network will be back
online this week and gamers will receive compensation for not being able to
log on.

The PlayStation Network -- which allows users to play games with friends
around the world and download movies and games over the Internet -- went
offline on April 20 after officials learned days before a hacker stole
personal information from its 77 million users.

Sony officials did not disclose the breach until April 22.

Sony executives apologized for the breach at a news conference in Tokyo on
Sunday, saying they are conducting a thorough and ongoing investigation into
the matter.

"This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on
our consumers, but our entire industry. These illegal attacks obviously
highlight the widespread problem with cyber security," said Kazuo Hirai,
executive deputy president of Sony Corp.

"We take the security of our consumers' information very seriously and are
committed to helping our consumers protect their personal data."

Officials said they will restore online gameplay for both the PlayStation 3
and PSP later this week, in addition to PlayStation Home, friends list and
chat functionality.

Once the PlayStation Network is restored online, users will have to change
their account passwords before being able to log into the service. The
update will require users to change their passwords on the PS3 on which the
account was activated, or through e-mail validation.

To thank customers for their patience and loyalty, Sony announced it would
offer PlayStation Network users 30 days free membership in the PlayStation
Plus service, which provides access to exclusive games and beta trials for
games.

Current subscribers to the PlayStation Plus service will receive an
additional 30 days for free.