SOE (Sony Online Entertainment), home of online games such as the Everquest series and host to Facebook based game Fortune League,has been declared as yet another ‘victim’ of the Sony online hacking debacle. Of course, the real victims are the 24.6 million plus customers who’s credit card and personal details may have been stolen by the hackers. The SOE servers are now offline until further notice.

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.

The SOE service was closed down yesterday as Sony became aware that the SOE service had been affected by the recent hacking of their databases, Sony previously thought that SOE had not been affected and it seems that they only became aware of the problems with SOE whilst making attempts to bring certain services on the PSN back online after last weeks disaster.

Sony have issued a press statement regarding the latest events: Sony Online Entertainment Hacked PR

Certain services on the PlayStation network and on Qriocity are to be reopened, according to a press release from Sony. Kazuo Hirai, the head of the PlayStation department has made a statement apologising for the error that caused over 75 million PSN users to have their confidential details stolen by hackers. He has also announced that some services on PSN will resume

“The organisation has worked around the clock to bring these services back on line and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security” – Mr Hirai

Sony have also announced that the PlayStation 3 is to recieve a compulsory system software update which will make users change passwords before they can use the network again. Sony intend implimenting a number of new security measures including more intricate firewalls and data protection and by allowing users to change passwords only from the PS3 console that they first activated the password on or by activating through email.

The ‘limited’ services that Sony are reopening on the PlayStation Network and Qriocity are expected to be up and running within the next week or so.

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