SOE Answers Common Questions About Attack

While we all wait for the Sony Online Entertainment services to come back online following an attack on the network, SOE posted a brief FAQ today to keep players updated on the situation. While they don't provide any new details, SOE has said it will continue to post updates to the site with new information as it becomes available. 

According to the FAQ, some games and services are expected to be up and running "soon." SOE emphasizes that the services will only be restored once the network is secure. SOE spokewoman Taina Rodriguez told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the network will be shut down until Friday and possibly longer, so it certainly looks like players should remain patient during this downtime.

You can read the current FAQ after the jump. As a reminder, SOE has confirmed that hackers may have obtained personal information from SOE systems, so be wary of any phishing scams that you may receive through e-mail. SOE will be granting customers 30 days of additional time on their subscriptions, in addition to compensating them one day for each day the system is down.

During the downtime you are welcome to join us in ZAM's IRC chat. Feldon of EQ2Wire also has set up a ZAM IRC java applet that you can use.


Recent Updates - May 4, 2011

When will SOE's services be back online?

We have been working around the clock to restore operations as quickly as possible, and we expect to have some of our games and services up and running soon. However, we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we believe that the network is secure.

How is the SOE intrusion related to the PSN/Qriocity intrusion? Was this a second attack on SOE?

While the two systems are distinct and operated separately, given that they are both under the Sony umbrella, there is some degree of overlap in design. The attacks were similar in nature. This is NOT a second attack; new information has been discovered as part of our ongoing investigation into the criminal attack in April.

How is SOE planning to notify customers whose data may have been stolen?

We are sending out customer service notification emails to the email addresses we have on file for the accounts that were affected. These emails will be sent by Innovyx, our third party email distributor, and contained either 'soe.innovyx.net' or 'soe.sony.com' in the sender field.

SOE initially thought no data was extracted, what changed?

Essentially the perpetrators used sophisticated means not only to access the data, but also to cover their tracks. We committed to continue the investigation and in doing so, uncovered further information that we did not have when we initially believed the data was not stolen.

Comments

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sonys respect for non american customers
# May 04 2011 at 1:49 PM Rating: Decent
i have learnt that american customers have recieved letters explaining what has happend nothing like that for uk customeres im currently loading lord of the rings im disgusted with you sony so im a brit just a second class citizen to your us customeres (i dont mean no disrispect to my fellow eq players across the pond )
sonys respect for non american customers
# May 04 2011 at 7:15 PM Rating: Decent
You ahve learned wrong mate. I am an American and I ahve received NO letter from SOE. This is a WoW conspiracy to agitate you.
sonys respect for non american customers
# May 04 2011 at 3:13 PM Rating: Decent
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I am also an American customer. I hold 3 EQ accounts and received nothing on any of them. Friend of mine in Star Wars Galaxy recieved his notice the day of the servers coming down --shrugs--

Maybe its taking time to get through the list as they investigate. Or maybe our account wasnt leaked. Either way , noone is singling you out based on which country you live in for special or non special treatment
sonys respect for non american customers
# May 04 2011 at 3:09 PM Rating: Decent
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Also an American customer. Also have not received any letters. And I hold 3 active accounts. Friend of mine in Star Wars Galaxy recieved a letter the day the servers shut down.

At a guess I would say that as they conclude X account might be compromised they are notifying customers.

Course I am hoping that , if they haven't sent me a letter , I might be safe =)
sonys respect for non american customers
# May 04 2011 at 2:12 PM Rating: Decent
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LIbby123 wrote:
i have learnt that american customers have recieved letters explaining what has happend nothing like that for uk customeres im currently loading lord of the rings im disgusted with you sony so im a brit just a second class citizen to your us customeres (i dont mean no disrispect to my fellow eq players across the pond )


I am a US customer and have not received any letters or anything about what happened. I had all my CC info on both PSN and SOE sites but just to be on the safe side I went ahead and ordered a new debit card from my bank so all should be safe.
Jonesing
# May 04 2011 at 1:39 PM Rating: Default
What happen to drug users who go through drug addiction program. They vow to never return. Sony is going to be hurt for customer after this! They are moving down on my list, daily. The long this goes on, the less chance I will log on. Sorry Sony but lesson learned here, Security FIRST!
don't get alot of things
# May 04 2011 at 1:39 PM Rating: Decent
what i don't get is, if our informations already compremised why can't i play? just patch a secruity patch thourgh next schedualed patch day....... i mean if the damage is done whats the sense of damage control right?
don't get alot of things
# May 04 2011 at 2:27 PM Rating: Good
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People have likened this to "closing the barn door after the horses got out". The thing is that not ALL information was compromised. There are still horses left in the barn.

You are suggesting that SOE "leave the barn door open to allow the rest of the horses to get out".
thanks sony
# May 04 2011 at 1:36 PM Rating: Decent
You've made me enjoy Rift even more
Sony just dont know......
# May 04 2011 at 1:19 PM Rating: Decent
I actually contacted Sony and got live "help" from the San Diego office and i ended up giving them information!!!!!! I had already read about the release from Taina Rodriguez about the ETA being Friday at the ear...liest and they knew nothing about it....I said nevermind I know more than you LOL!!!!!!!!! So Im not even sure Sony knows whats going on lol. If this is any indication then learning from their mistakes is evidently a epic fail.If you happen to find out any info please contact Sony San Diego and let them know at 1-858-537-0898 from 10:00 Am to 7:00 PM Mon-Fri except holidays.(Figured I would post the US number since it was conveniently left out of any of the posts Sony has put out since the hack) But please,just call and let Sony know the minute anyone thinks the servers are ready to be brought up because whats the difference if we take a guess and lose our info or letting them take the guess for us because they obviously dont know either!!!
Station Cards
# May 04 2011 at 1:16 PM Rating: Decent
So where can I get a Station Card...GameStop is no longer selling them>
Station Cards
# May 04 2011 at 3:46 PM Rating: Decent
phoenix2565 wrote:
So where can I get a Station Card...GameStop is no longer selling them>


Gamestop sells them, that can be used for 1500 station cash or a subsciption depending on how you enter them - just be sure you select eh correct method or you will end up with station cash instead of a subscription
Station Cards
# May 04 2011 at 2:31 PM Rating: Decent
I get my game cards at BestBuy and Wal-Mart. Sometimes Wal-Mart is out of the $15 cards and I have to have them order them, but the will do it for free and they will be there the next day. You can also go to places like Amazon and buy the cards with a credit card and they just send you the code, more or less and instant transfer. I think places like Fry's sell them to, but I am not sure. Also check toy stores like Toys'R'Us.
Station Cards
# May 04 2011 at 1:23 PM Rating: Default
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Game stop here (Reno) still carries them. And I believe it is in their inventory portfolio. Ask to have them bring them in. Also the fixed Priced Visa gift cards you can purchase at a lot of stores work too. Careful some don't. I have had luck with Gifts2go cards. Also your bank sells visa fixed price cards to any amount you want and can use also and there is usually a fee on those unless you are a "Valued" customer.
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service?
# May 04 2011 at 1:16 PM Rating: Decent
Funny how service providers shut us off the moment an account is not being paid for, but never bother to prorate or refund monies pre-paid for services not provided? I'd love to see SOE extend a days free service for every day an active account is not able to access?
service?
# May 04 2011 at 1:49 PM Rating: Decent
They have already announced that they plan to do that AND give everyone a free month's subscription.
Wondering how the
# May 04 2011 at 5:42 PM Rating: Decent
Wondering if SOE will try and pull the old "last in, last out" rip-off with their offer of "One - months free play" as compensation.

That's where they'll "add the free time on to the end of your current subscription". The effect of course is that if you pay monthly, like I did, you'll never see the benefit as your monthly payment will keep pushing the free period out. That of course would be especially galling in light of the fact that they whacked my credit card for the monthly subscription on April 28th - 2 days before they shut off the system AND around the same time that various reports I have been reading indicate they actually had an inkling that something was amiss? Coincidence or not?

SOE - if you really are on the up and up with this you'll REALLY give us a month's free play. When your system comes up you'll extend the subscription play period for 30 + X days (X being the number of days of free play you have also promised for each down day) beyond the scheduled rebilling date (determined by the number of paid days we had credit for as of May 1 - myself almost an entire month) and not rebill us for the next months subscription until that time.

Don't try to be slick on your reimbursement.

We are watching. As are the numerous regulators, congress persons and class action attorneys who also have an interest in your "behavior".

Edited, May 4th 2011 7:43pm by EQEsq
World of Warcraft
# May 04 2011 at 1:05 PM Rating: Default
So I've decided to try World of Warcraft for the first time since Everquest is down, and all I can say is AWESOME! Don't know if I'll ever go back.
World of Warcraft
# May 04 2011 at 7:20 PM Rating: Decent
Lol - your a tool if you think WoW can be compared to EQ2. WoW is a bunch of cartoony crap. I don't want to hear about Vanilla WoW either - I tried it and it suxxored it was so freaking redonkulous stupid easy. Playing WoW is akin to playing an SK during TSO. Face smashing and drooling on your keyboard to demonstrate your l33t skillz. if your gonna abandon EQ2 at least play RIFTs - its light years better in graphics and plays just as stupid easy. At least its more visually appealing and its devs are much better people. WoW my **** - your a Blizzard employee no doubt.
World of Warcraft
# May 04 2011 at 9:21 PM Rating: Decent
Who said anything about EQ2? Tool.
World of Warcraft
# May 05 2011 at 12:56 AM Rating: Decent
So your not denying to be a Bliz employee or fanboy over here trying to drum up support for that trashy cartoon wanna be MMO right? EQ1 is way better than WoW too btw.


Edited, May 5th 2011 2:57am by Vlahkmaak
good job SOE
# May 04 2011 at 1:03 PM Rating: Decent
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i think SoE is doing a great job on keeping people happy, and i think these retards that are trying to sue Sony are just that, retards. they are not going to win a law suit for this, i mean come on... next week a bank branch will be hacked into, the week after that it will be ebay... my point is, hackers are out there, they are as smart as whoever puts the sercurty in place, in some cases, there smarter.

this happons all the time and there is nothing anybody is going to be able to do about it cept arrest the perps as they catch them, there is countless hackers out there and countless things for them to hack, and nothing anybody can do about it cept keep the hackers out that are not as smart as some of the others.
Soe Update
# May 04 2011 at 12:55 PM Rating: Decent
While Soe is keeping us updated on the latest // Personally i feel that more could and should have been done. And i never trust any site i use. Hence this is Y i use SOE Station Cards for my monthly payment of my account. although this is of little assurance when i could loose my account if i cant log in and change passwords and such. just my point of view
Icey
Soe Update
# May 04 2011 at 12:59 PM Rating: Decent
I think using station cards is a great idea and I may use those from now on as well.
To their Credit
# May 04 2011 at 12:47 PM Rating: Decent
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Even though this is an incredibly screwed up situation, I think they are handling it well, not making promises about server restoration, and keeping security priority #1.
Their PR dept has a lot to be desired
# May 04 2011 at 1:17 PM Rating: Default
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I agree with you Loweball that it is a screwed up situation. But I think SoE could handle it a lot better on the Public Relations front. SoE could have easily put up an alternative website with a live chat so people can vent. This would keep them on SoE and not make them try or want to go to another game. SoE would probably hear things they would not want too, but small price to pay for their “Valued” customers. This would also give players access to any info right away. How are we going to find out if they are up or not? As of now any info I get is from this site, Allakhazam. Which in my opinion they do an excellent job. Even SoE and Everquest facebooks sites are not up to date. Remember that EQ is addicting and a lot of people are “Jonesing “out there. So Feedback from SoE once every 17 hours is not enough.

Edited, May 4th 2011 12:36pm by Vinney
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Their PR dept has a lot to be desired
# May 04 2011 at 3:49 PM Rating: Decent
Vinney wrote:
I agree with you Loweball that it is a screwed up situation. But I think SoE could handle it a lot better on the Public Relations front. SoE could have easily put up an alternative website with a live chat so people can vent. This would keep them on SoE and not make them try or want to go to another game. SoE would probably hear things they would not want too, but small price to pay for their “Valued” customers. This would also give players access to any info right away. How are we going to find out if they are up or not? As of now any info I get is from this site, Allakhazam. Which in my opinion they do an excellent job. Even SoE and Everquest facebooks sites are not up to date. Remember that EQ is addicting and a lot of people are “Jonesing “out there. So Feedback from SoE once every 17 hours is not enough.

Edited, May 4th 2011 12:36pm by Vinney


they do have a method - pick up the phone and call them..the number is posted in their web information area
To their Credit
# May 04 2011 at 1:15 PM Rating: Default
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Sorry double post

Edited, May 4th 2011 12:25pm by Vinney
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To their Credit
# May 04 2011 at 2:33 PM Rating: Decent
vinney how would putting up a live chat so you can ***** at them help? if anything that would slow the entire thing down. ya i'm not happy that i can't play EQ just like the rest of you but seriously? you want them to put up another site and waste MORE time just so you have another place to cry? the zam forums are here for you to cry on.
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