How, exactly, does this help either protect the users data, or stop another attack in the future?
If a hacker steals the password database, they're still going to have the _current_ password, no matter if you changed it a week ago.
Fricking security theater...
You just prove my point with wow . Wow continues to be hacked but record numbers of users continue to pay monthly so Blizzard has no reason to fix the problems.
mandatory authenticators would fix 99% of the hacking problems but blizzard wont want to pay the cost of it. So we get shoddy security.
For one, they're not hacked. I've yet to see a report of anyone's account actually being "hacked" in the true sense of the word. Stolen login info, yes.. happens all the time. That's because people are stupid, and fall for scam emails or websites that install keyloggers. That's the user's fault, plain and simple, and I have zero sympathy for anyone who gets their account stolen.In other words, WoW "hacks" have absolutely nothing in common with Sonys problems.
Be *very* careful with things like this. It may be that this is a legitimate fraud detection playing out for you, but every single time I have received an email such as this - and it has been many many times - the email itself is the scam/fraud. On email/return links, mouse over to see where the destination URL is; almost always it will be a fraudulent source masquerading as the vendor in question. Think about what email addresses the vendor has on file, how they normally structure their communications with you, whether what you're reading seems legitimate.
Emails specifically like the one you describe I should note. If they ask for login/password or to link from the email, do not do it. Go to the site directly via a different browser/window and check it out like that if you feel so inclined. Else you may find the fraud alert becomes self-fulfilling.
I would expect fake PSN related emails to begin propagating before too long; proceed very cautiously, and again, don't click any links.
Just as an example I got some fake Netflix email on Friday saying my account had been suspended. Well, first of all Netflix doesn't have the email address this email went to. The rest becomes pretty obvious, and as typical the link URL was to something other than the actual vendor domain, and in this case to netflix-check.co.cc (I wouldn't advise anyone visit that, whatever it is)
The above was one of the least sophisticated of the scam emails I regularly receive to my work email address, and believe me I worry about how others might pursue action in similar circumstances every time I get one myself. And reading what your own email supposedly said, I have to tell you that it wreaks of an Amazon pretender. Going to Amazon directly outside of that email and seeing if the account has indeed been shut down is the way to establish the veracity; following a link and entering username/password is just a way to directly validate ID and enable an actual thief.
Greetings from Amazon.com.
Please take the time to read this message - it contains important
information about your Amazon.com account.
At Amazon.com, we routinely perform reviews of orders and customer
accounts to protect our customers. After careful review of your
account, we believe it may have been accessed and used by a
third-party to make purchases without your permission, but it appears
they did not use your credit card to make these purchases. It seems
that someone obtained your personal account and/or financial
information elsewhere, and used it on Amazon.com to access your
account.
We have closed your account effective immediately because of this
possible unauthorized account activity. If this recent account
activity (unusual sign-in activity) was authorized by you, please reply to
this message as soon as possible and we will reactivate your account.
Otherwise, you will need to open a new account when you place future
orders with us.
It is important to know that Amazon.com accounts can only be accessed
by those who know personal, specific information about you and your
account -- such as your email address, Amazon.com password, physical
address, credit card information, and other details. As mentioned
above, it appears someone obtained some of your personal account
and/or financial information elsewhere and used it on Amazon.com to
access your account.
While it is not clear how this happened in your case, we do know that
personal account and financial information are often obtained by scam
artists who send unsolicited email to unsuspecting users asking them
to "update" their account information. The email usually contains a
link to a website that is controlled by the thief asking the user to
submit personal information including email address, password, credit
card number, and other relevant information. Once the information is
obtained, the scam artist can then gain access to numerous online
accounts since many internet users frequently use the same user name,
email address, password, and financial information at multiple web
sites.
Please know that Amazon.com employees will *never* ask for your
password, nor will we ever send an email asking you to verify personal
information.
Although it appears someone did access your Amazon.com account, they
would not have been able to view your full credit card numbers as they
are never displayed on our site. However, it is possible your credit
card numbers may have been compromised at the time your other personal
information was obtained. Therefore, we suggest you carefully review
recent credit card statements to check for any unusual activity or
unauthorized charges.
In the future, you can protect your Amazon.com password and account by
following some of these safety tips:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Choose a good password: Use at least 8 characters and a combination
of letters and numbers. Do not use single dictionary words, your name
or other personal info that can be easily obtained, or a password that
contains part of your email address.
2. Password protection: Avoid using the same password at multiple
sites or for your email account. Do not share your password with
others.
3. Account protection: Be cautious of unsolicited emails that appear
to come from reputable online shops or services that ask you to submit
personal information such as your credit card number, email address,
and password. Often these emails will look as though they come from
the company you're familiar with, and the email will ask you to click
on a link and "sign in". You should never provide this kind of
personal information in an unsolicited email.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please accept our most sincere apologies for any resulting
inconveniences, and feel free to contact us if you have any further
questions or concerns by writing to account-alert@amazon.com.
Sincerely,
Justin M
Account Specialist
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
=========================
Greetings from Amazon Payments,
We're sorry, but your Apr 30, 2011 payment to Offerpal Media of $9.99 has failed. Details of this transaction are below:
Payment details:
---------------
Transaction ID: 15UJGJV7Z155MR8BJ1K2KCLIC58HN9EFMUD
Recipient: Offerpal Media
For: 49 YoCash (85MSPRD_357819719)
Amount: $9.99
Date: May 1, 2011
Payment method: Mastercard XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-9076
Reference: 49 YoCash (85MSPRD_357819719)
Thank you for using Amazon Payments.
Transaction details and your account history are also available online at https://payments.amazon.com/. Please refer to https://resolutioncenter.payments.amazon.com/cobranded-ui/actions/DisputeInitialisationAction.do? for inquiries about any errors.
Greetings from Amazon.com.
Thank you for keeping in touch with us regarding this matter.
Although we are not permitted to provide you with any additional
details regarding this unauthorized activity, we will provide this
information to any law enforcement agency investigating the matter, as
well as to any applicable financial institution.
Please remember, as mentioned in our previous message, you will need
to open a new Amazon.com account should you decide to place future
orders with us.
For increased password and account protection, we
strongly encourage you to adhere to the safety tips provided in our
prior correspondence.
Feel free to contact us with any additional questions or concerns,
and thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.
Sincerely,
Ervin V.
Account Specialist
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
=========================
....
The only loss for me is a week or two of online Killzone 3...
Yeah it certainly looks more legit than the majority of stuff floating around. Did you try logging into your Amazon account just to check if it was indeed locked? But I'm with you as far as the conclusions go.
By the way - that sucks! I had an ATM card cloned two years ago and was *thankfully* checking my bank account right around the same time the thief was active (I am not checking my accounts daily, that's for sure), so I was able to stop all activity after *only* $2000 had been stolen. Luckily, the bank worked very quickly to restore the funds - I thought for sure I'd be in the midst of a months long paperwork drama.
First of all I would like to sincerely apologise for the delay in my response as our team are currently receiving a high number of online enquiries.
Thank you for your recent email in regards to your credit card.
I have investigated transactions on your credit card and our records indicate there is no recent attempt to debit your credit card for $10 by a merchant called Offerpal Media.
In relation to the Playstation data breach, we are currently confirming if card numbers and expiry dates have been obtained as a result of this serious breach.
At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that card details have been compromised. Please be aware that security of your accounts is important at all times, and if there is a need to replace your credit card we will be in contact with you.
So the payment might have failed to go through (as Amazon indicated earlier) but someone was definitely trying to use my card to pay for something -01/05/2011 PENDING - ASI*OFFERPAL MEDIA 510-403-7300 WA $9.18
01/05/2011 PENDING - Amazon.com AMZN.COM/BILL WA $0.92
Has Sony announced any kind of compensation for the customers?
And I read somewhere that you can send an email to a Sony address to get info on the credit card they have on file?
* At the 46:00 mark of the Q&A session, Hirai was asked if passwords were encrypted to which he replied that
"passwords were not encrypted." However, at the 61:10 mark, Hasejima corrected Hirai's answer and said that
"passwords were not encrypted, but were hashed."
Dear valued SOE Customers,
We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday).
I watched the whole thing now. I'm pretty happy with everything that was said. I'm glad to see Sony is finally doing the right thing.
Has this been reported yet?
http://www.irwebcasting.com/110501/02/3a33cc2c90/index.html
That is an extremely important communication error that made Sony look more incompetent than they were. Hackers could still pass on the hash instead of the password, but they don't have straightforward access or use of the password, and Sony have not used any system less secure than any other system out there. It would appear that Sony weren't particularly insecure, or arrogant as some would like to suggest, but just got hacked by a new attack vector as can happen with any system - there is no perfect security (other than not being online!).Has this been reported yet?
I watched the whole thing now. I'm pretty happy with everything that was said. I'm glad to see Sony is finally doing the right thing.
Has this been reported yet?
http://www.irwebcasting.com/110501/02/3a33cc2c90/index.html