Sony briefly takes PSN down for surprise security fix
updated 05:30 am EDT, Wed July 6, 2011
Sony initiates unannounced security fix
Sony briefly took down the PlayStation Network late Tuesday afternoon in a surprise move. The unannounced shutdown caught users off-guard forcing them to install an additional security fix. Gamers who tried to access their network accounts were greeted with this error message: “An error has occurred. You have been signed out of PlayStation Network. (80710016). Please wait." Following the outage, Sony posted a message on its support pages that tells users that to regain access, they will need to install a new firmware update and create a new password.
The support page states that this latest password reset “is one of the new security measures put in place for your protection.” Sony also warned that the reset process may take up to 24 hours as the network was still undergoing maintenance and due to high network traffic volumes.
Sony was forced to take its PlayStation Network down on April 20 for almost two months following a successful hack that resulted the theft of personal information of over 77 million users. The latest password reset and firmware update appears to have coincided with the return to service of the Japanese PlayStation Network, which is currently coming back online. [via Notebook Review]
