Sony Apologizes For PlayStation Network Outage, Says 10 Million Credit Cards May Be At Risk

At a press conference in Tokyo over the weekend, executives for Sony issued a public apology for the ongoing PlayStation Network outage and admitted that upwards of 10 million users’ credit card information could possibly have been breached.

“We deeply apologize for the inconvenience we have caused,” said the head of Sony PlayStation division.

While the company admitted that 10 million credit card numbers were potentially at risk to the hack, it still claims to not know whether or not any of that information was actually pilfered.

Earlier in the weekend, Sony said it plans to get the network back up and running this week, and that it’s offering some make-good gifts to gamers whose private data has been exposed and who haven’t been able to play online for nearly two weeks.

On a PlayStation Blog post, the company states it will:

*Offer 30 free days of its premium PlayStation Plus membership, and add a free 30 days to the subscriptions of current subscribers.

*Present the same free-30-day deal for its Qriocity streaming music and video service.

*Offer as-yet unannounced “free PlayStation entertainment” content for download.

The PSN relaunch, which will require everyone to download a system update and change their password, will re-activate online multiplayer for the PS3 and PSP, open up access to account management, friends lists and its generally worthless Second-Life-like playroom, PlayStation Home.

Sony also says it’s “committed to helping its customers protect their personal data and will provide a complimentary offering to assist users in enrolling in identity theft protection services and/or similar programs.”

Sony execs apologize for PlayStation Network security breach [Chicago Sun-Times]

Press Release: Some PlayStation Network and Qriocity Services to be Available This Week [PlayStation Blog]

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