Latest hack apology from Sony

Below is the full text of Sony's statement regarding the security breach on the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) system.

Dear Valued Sony Online Entertainment Customer,

Our ongoing investigation of illegal intrusions into Sony Online Entertainment systems has discovered that hackers may have obtained personal customer information from SOE systems. We are today advising you that the personal information you provided us in connection with your SOE account may have been stolen in a cyber-attack. Stolen information includes, to the extent you provided it to us, the following: name, address (city, state, zip, country), email address, gender, birthdate, phone number, login name and hashed password.

Customers outside the United States should be advised that we further discovered evidence that information from an outdated database from 2007 containing approximately 12,700 non-US customer credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes) and about 10,700 direct debit records listing bank account numbers of certain customers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Spain may have also been obtained. We will be notifying each of those customers promptly.

There is no evidence that our main credit card database was compromised. It is in a completely separate and secured environment.

We had previously believed that SOE customer data had not been obtained in the cyber-attacks on the company, but on May 1st we concluded that SOE account information may have been stolen and we are notifying you as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the attack and as a result, we have:

1) Temporarily turned off all SOE game services;

2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and

3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.

We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.

For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When SOE's services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your Station or SOE game account name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.

To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it:

U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.

We have also provided names and contact information for the three major U.S. credit bureaus below. At no charge, U.S. residents can have these credit bureaus place a "fraud alert" on your file that alerts creditors to take additional steps to verify your identity prior to granting credit in your name. This service can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name. Note, however, that because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you, it also may delay your ability to obtain credit while the agency verifies your identity. As soon as one credit bureau confirms your fraud alert, the others are notified to place fraud alerts on your file. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, or should you have any questions regarding your credit report, please contact any one of the agencies listed below.

Experian: 888-397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

Equifax: 800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

TransUnion: 800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

You may wish to visit the web site of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.gov/idtheft or reach the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 or 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 for further information about how to protect yourself from identity theft. Your state Attorney General may also have advice on preventing identity theft, and you should report instances of known or suspected identity theft to law enforcement, your State Attorney General, and the FTC. For North Carolina residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001; telephone (877) 566-7226; or www.ncdoj.gov. For Maryland residents, the Attorney General can be contacted at 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202; telephone: (888) 743-0023; or www.oag.state.md.us.

We are committed to helping our customers protect their personal data and we will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs. The implementation will be at a local level and further details will be made available shortly in regions in which such programs are commonly utilized.

We thank you for your patience as we complete our investigation of this incident, and we regret any inconvenience. Our teams are working around the clock on this, and services will be restored as soon as possible. Sony takes information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that additional measures are taken to protect personally identifiable information. Providing quality and secure entertainment services to our customers is our utmost priority. Please contact us at 1 (866) 436-6698 should you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Sony Online Entertainment LLC

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.

Foxconn Employees Forced to Sign 'No Suicide' Pledge

Foxconn, a Chinese company that assembles Apple products, has forced
employees to sign a pledge promising that they won't commit suicide,
according to the Daily Mail.

The company has been criticized for providing an unsavory working
environment, with a string of worker suicides putting the spotlight on bad
conditions and low pay at the plant, where some 420,000 employees work. In
the last 16 months, at least 14 Foxconn workers in plants in the Chinese
cities of Shenzen and Chengdu have killed themselves. It's believed that
many more have survived suicide attempts or been stopped before they acted.
Foxconn has even taken such steps as installing nets outside factory
dormitories to deter potential jumpers.

In the strange agreement, employees vow not to commit suicide, and if they
do, they pledge that their families will only seek the minimum legal
damages. The agreement was uncovered by a study by the Centre for Research
on Multinational Companies and Students & Scholars Against Corporate
Misbehaviour .

The study also found that workers were forced to log overtime far beyond the
legal limit of 36 hours per month. Additionally, when the company was
scrambling to meet high demand for the iPad, workers were only allowed one
day off in 13. Workers not meeting performance standards were also publicly
castigated in front of other employees. Workers are also banned from talking
and sitting down during 12-hour shifts. Some are only allowed to see their
families once a year, the study said.

"It is not something we endorse or encourage. However, I would not exclude
that this might happen given the diverse and large population of our
workforce. But we are working to change it," Foxconn spokesperson Louis Woo
told the Daily Mail.

Woo also said that employees were "encouraged not to engage in conversations
that may distract them from the attention needed to ensure accuracy and
their own safety."

Recently Foxconn charged three employees with leaking a case design for the
iPad 2.

White iPhone4 goes on sale Thursday

After a long wait, Apple has finally announced that its white iPhone 4 will
be available from April 28, 2011 onwards.

In a statement issued today, it said the white iPhone 4 models will be
available from the Apple's online store (www.apple.com/sg/) and select Apple
Authorised Resellers.

Besides Singapore, iPhone fans in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada,
China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and the US
will also be able to order them.

The mobile communication device will have a recommended retail price of $888
for the 16GB model and $1,048 for the 32GB model.

Earlier on Apple had stated that the reason for the delay of the white
models of Apple's iPhone 4 was that manufacturing it was more challenging
then they had originally expected.

Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip
Schiller, said "We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we've
worked to get every detail right."

Other than the white iPhone 4, the iPad 2 will also be out this week in
Singapore this Friday.

It will have a suggested retail price of $668 for the 16GB model, $798 for
the 32GB model and $928 for the 64GB model.

The iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be going for $848 for the 16GB model, $978
for the 32GB model and $1,108 for the 64GB model.

Android smartphones winning over 'app' makers

Google is the new darling of software wizards out to cash-in on the world's
love for customizing smartphones with fun, hip or functional applications.

Developers once obsessed with "apps" for Apple's hot-selling iPhones are
touting creations tailored for smartphones built on the Google-backed
Android platform.

Mobile platforms being watched by developers include BlackBerry, Microsoft
Windows Phone 7 and Hewlett-Packard's webOS.

Ianni expected smartphones based on Microsoft or HP software to increase in
allure as they gain traction in the market.

Urban Airship provides tools that help developers make money from smartphone
programs. Early in April the Oregon-based company added a feature allowing
people to make purchases inside Android applications.

Android's share of the US smartphone market has surged this year while
BlackBerry's sunk, according to recent figures from industry tracker
comScore.

Android commanded a third of the market, while BlackBerry ranked second with
29 percent and Apple third with 25 percent, comScore reported.

Apple had slightly more that 333,000 iPhone applications in its App Store in
March, but Google's Android Market boasted 206,000 "apps" and was growing
fast, according to figures from industry tracker Distimo.

Distimo predicted that Apple's App Store would be relegated to second place,
followed by Windows Phone 7 Marketplace and BlackBerry App World.

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace had about 12,000 applications in March while
Nokia Ovi Store had 30,000 and BlackBerry had 27,000, according to Distimo.

Distimo expected Windows 7 Marketplace to leap ahead of BlackBerry and Ovi
by October.

Independent application operations typically have only a few, if not just
one, software developer, according to Bajarin.

Finding ways to get noticed and make money in a sea of more than 600,000
smartphone applications were hot topics at AppNation.

Attendance at the event grew to 1,700 this year from 1,100 at its premier in
San Francisco last year. The number of exhibitors grew to 210 from 80.

Opera Mobile Store that spans more than 200 countries launched an
"Appcelerator" program at AppNation to help developers promote and profit
from software creations.

Advertisers are increasingly tuning into the potential to target consumers
on smartphones and tablet computers.

Mobile ads are more effective for advertisers and can translate into more
money for developers, according to Lisa Abramson, director of marketing at
mobile video ad network Rhythm New Media.

Developers can also make money from in-application transactions, selling
virtual goods, or simply charging for software.

Android: the smartphone system with multiple faces

Android is not always the same. About 170 different smartphones run the
mobile operating system, but there is no one single standard.

Everything can change from one Android-operated smartphone to the next:
interface, functions, options available. The one thing that stays the same:
with an Android-enabled smartphone, you're only a click away from the
internet.

Thus, when you're out shopping for an Android phone, keep an eye on the
software you're buying as well as the hardware.

A whole host of manufacturers have decided to make use of the open source
software, designed under the leadership of Google. HTC, SonyEricsson,
Samsung and Motorola have all brought out Android phones. Nonetheless,
compared to the iPhone, Android is a latecomer to the game.

Google announced in November 2007 that it would develop an operating system
based on the Linux operating system in conjunction with an alliance of 30
technology and mobile phone giants. By that point, Apple had already sold
millions of its iPhones.

But, thanks to widespread support, Android phones quickly took off and have,
in the meantime, become a true alternative to the iPhone.

The main difference between Apple's iOS and Android lies in the openness of
the Google software. Phone manufacturers can use it and alter it as they
wish.

"They have the option to come out as individuals," says Dirk Waasen, chief
editor of the German technology magazine Connect. Thus, HTC has laid its
Sense interface on top of Android, while Garmin and Asus have made a
combination of satellite-navigation device and smartphone with their
Nuvifone.

For the pure Android system, shoppers have to seek out the Nexus S, produced
by Samsung under contract with Google.

Despite the varied interfaces, the functions of all Android phones are
similar. The software stands out because of its free navigation tool,
integrated as the Maps service starting with version 1.6.

Meanwhile, anyone with a smartphone running Android 2.2 can turn the phone
into a wi—fi router for other devices.

As an added bonus, websites on Android run with the Flash multimedia
technology, which isn't available on Apple devices.

One unique feature available starting with version 2.3, according to Google
spokesman Stefan Keuchel, is its near-field communication technology, which
allows cash-free payments via a mobile.

However, not a lot of manufacturers support the smartphone as a digital
wallet yet.

"We have the chicken and the egg problem," says Keuchel.

Even though Google's name isn't stamped on a lot of Android devices, users
quickly realized that the internet giant was behind the system's
development.

"Access to Google services is much better than with iPhone," says
smartphone expert Waasen. Maps offers an additional direct search for cafes,
petrol stations and cash machines. And the company's trademark search
window is integrated into the startscreen of most devices.

The developers put a lot of work into the engines of the system too.
Upgraded versions don't just run faster, but with greater energy
efficiency. The most recent version, 2.3.3, support dual-core processors,
like those operating most newer super mobiles.

The smartphone is also becoming a bit of a jack-of-all-trades thanks to the
huge selection of apps. According to Google, the Android Market now features
about 150,000 applications. True, there are more than 300,000 for Apple's
iOS, but Android users can hardly complain about a lack of choices: from
silly ringtones to games to office assistants, it's all there.

"The selection grew significantly in the last year, but a lot of apps don't
run cleanly yet," says Arno Becker, who develops applications with his
company Firma Visionera. Even though Android gives programmers more freedom,
that can make things more complicated than with the more regimented iOS
system.

Plus, Google doesn't sort through its apps as closely as Apple does.

"Apple puts more of a premium on the apps functioning well," says Waasen.

A typical weakness of an app is the wasteful approach they have to the
battery, especially when in satnav mode. Another problem is that resolution
and pixel density vary greatly between models, meaning some Android apps don't display well on some smartphones or don't open at all.

"Anyone who wants the biggest selection of apps should buy himself a device
with the classic smartphone resolutions of 320X480 or 850X480," advises
Becker.

Thanks to the system's openness, a whole legion of Android phones are
available, whether they use huge touchscreens or small keyboards, whether
for gamers or businessmen, whether for 150 or 600 euros (219 to 875
dollars).

But regardless of what category you want, check what version of the software
is installed. Newer versions are most likely to have the newest update
installed by the manufacturer, says Waasen, who recommends Android 2.1 and
upwards.

Bin Laden may be dead, but his ideology lives on

Editor's note: Dr. Sajjan Gohel is the Director of International Security at
intelligence and security think tank the Asia Pacific Foundation.

(CNN) -- What role did Pakistan play in the operation against Osama bin
Laden?

I would be surprised if Pakistan played a significant role in the operation
to apprehend and kill Osama bin Laden, based on the fact that the drone
strikes that the U.S. conduct in the tribal areas are done covertly, the
authorities in Pakistan are not informed until the very last minute, because
of the fear of information leaks.

An operation of this scale in the central urban heartland of Pakistan would
mean that information would be kept on a need-to-know basis. Only a few
people within the CIA would have known about this operation, it would
definitely not have gone out to another country's intelligence agency,
especially when there's so little trust with the ISI [Inter-Services
Intelligence, the Pakistani intelligence service].

There has been a deterioration in relations at a strategic level -- the ISI
leaked out the name of the CIA station chief in Islamabad, and a person
working out of the U.S. embassy was detained by the Pakistani authorities,
allegedly working for the CIA.

The fact that the U.S. has been conducting drone strikes is an illustration
of the fact that there has been little cooperation -- if not none -- with
the Pakistani authorities.

What was Pakistan's part?

Security expert on Osama death

Bin Laden's death affects the world

We've seen the evolution of relations between Pakistan and America go from
'frenemies' to outright enemies.

Historically, have the U.S. and Pakistan had good ties?

The relationship has always been problematic, flawed, lacking trust. It goes
back to during the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan: The U.S.
and the West turned to Pakistan to provide and assist the Mujahideen in
removing the Soviets from Afghanistan.

There was a strategic relationship, but following the Soviets leaving
Afghanistan, that relationship went into suspension.

It was only restarted following 9/11: The Bush Administration turned to
General Pervez Musharraf, the military ruler of Pakistan, who at that time
had become a social pariah.

He was asked to round up the leadership of al Qaeda, of the Taliban, to
prevent them from creating an infrastructure inside Pakistan. In return
Pakistan would be rewarded with generous aid from the United States and
other countries.

Musharraf was very skilled at saying all the right things, but doing
virtually nothing, and that scenario continued, from 9/11, right up to the
end of Musharraf's tenure as ruler of Pakistan in 2007.

It took a long time but the U.S. finally began to realise that the promises
the Pakistanis were making were empty promises: Nothing of real tangible
significance was achieved. Information that was being shared ended up being
passed on to al Qaeda, and counterterrorism operations were therefore
flawed.

The Obama Administration disagreed with the Bush Administration on issues
like Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, but the one issue they absolutely built upon was
on the drone strikes policy, because if they couldn't deal with al Qaeda on
the ground, they would try to tackle them from the skies. Drone strikes were
increased substantially under the Obama Administration, because there was
this lack of trust.

The perception was that the U.S. would support Pakistan publicly while
pressurising them privately. Over time we've seen the public support wane.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Pakistan last year, made it clear
that she could not believe that the authorities in Pakistan did not know
where bin Laden was.

What has the reaction been in the region to news of bin Laden's death?

Keep in mind the fact that there are protests when drone strikes take place
in the tribal areas. This operation to take out Osama bin Laden was in the
urban heartland of Punjab. This is the core of where the military
establishment is from, so there is going to be a falling out.

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Publicly, the Pakistanis will try to make out that they were aware of the
operation, and that they played a role in it. Privately, they will be
seething that this was done on their territory.

And there will be protests. The radicals and the extremists inside
Pakistan --whose infrastructure has not been dismantled, as Musharraf had
promised -- they will organize mass protests. There will be propaganda by
the radicals and the extremists to try and exploit the situation.

U.S. interests, U.S. personnel, U.S. embassies and consulates will have to
take extra precautions.

If bin Laden's death is of symbolic seismic significance, then the fallout
in Pakistan will be equally matched.

There is always a reaction. But keep in mind that the reaction may not come
from al Qaeda -- it may come from an affiliate, from the groups that have
emerged or are emerging from al Qaeda's shadows: Lashkar-e-Toiba, the
Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

These groups have the infrastructure, the resources, the personnel and the
desire to plot and plan mass casualty attacks, and they may be in a better
position than bin Laden's al Qaeda to carry out a reprisal attack.

Will Osama bin Laden's death have a wider impact?

Al Qaeda central is not the group it once was: the drone strikes have been
confining their operational space, one by one the leadership has been picked
off, they don't have the ability to train people from the West as they once
could.

Their resources are depleted, they are not able to replenish their ranks, so
Al Qaeda central may not be able to cause a significant reaction, but other
groups are potentially in a better position to do it.

There will be problems that will emerge from this -- the worry is that we
don't know potentially what they could be, or when.

The silence is going to be the greatest fear, because it's not necessarily
that these groups would want to carry out attacks regionally or globally
imminently. They may wait, they may bide their time. We're talking about
weeks, months.

Al Qaeda's affiliates have always had very long term thinking -- it's not
about today or tomorrow, it's about next year.

They won't necessarily want to carry out something that will fail and
humiliate the group further.

We also have to bear in mind that bin Laden has been killed, but his deputy,
Ayman al-Zawahiri is still at large. He has very much taken on the mantle of
issuing al Qaeda's messages: Audio, video, through the internet; and his
protege, Abu Yahya al-Libi is also out there.

They will certainly be issuing a message at some point, trying to create a
rallying call for vengeance, to inspire their adherents and followers to
take up arms.

Bin Laden may be dead, but his ideology still lives, and the message will
continue to indoctrinate young, impressionable minds across the world.

Chinese women could be in space by 2012

China's female astronauts could fly into space as soon as the latter half of
next year, said a senior official in charge of the manned space program on
Friday.

According to the program schedule, a space module Tiangong-1 and the
Shenzhou VIII spacecraft will be launched in the latter half of this year in
the first unmanned rendezvous and docking mission.

Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Engineering Office and
also China's first astronaut in space, said that next year China will launch
two spacecraft to further improve China's rendezvous and docking
technologies and one of the spacecraft will be manned.

"Two to three astronauts will be sent to space in that mission next year,"
he said, without elaborating.

Fei Junlong, leader of China's astronaut team, told reporters that the two
women astronauts and five men astronauts - the second batch of Chinese
astronauts selected last year - have to take a three-year training course
before carrying out space missions.

But Yang said that there are possibilities for women to join next year's
mission.

The two women astronauts, both pilots from the People's Liberation Army
(PLA) Air Force, are the first women astronauts in China.

Before the current group of astronauts were selected, the 14 astronauts
recruited in 1997 were all men, including Yang and Fei. So far, six of them
have flown to space in three different missions.

Yang and Fei, as well as Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Center of
China, introduced China's manned space programs to 56 overseas reporters on
Friday at the "space town" in the northern Beijing suburb, where astronauts
are trained.