TOKYO --
Sony began restoring its PlayStation Network service in the United
States and Europe on Sunday after shutting down the service almost a
month ago due to a massive security breach affecting over 100 million
online accounts.
Restored operations are mainly limited to online
gaming, chat and music streaming services. Sony said it aimed to fully
restore the PlayStation Network by the end of May.
Sony also
began Sunday a phased restoration of its Qriocity movie and music
services which share the PlayStation Network's server, said Sony
Computer Entertainment Inc. spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka. Limited
services will also resume in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the
Middle East, and Sony said it will start restoring the service for users
in Asia soon.
Sony's PlayStation network is a system that links
gamers worldwide in live play. Sony shut it down on April 20 after
discovering a hacker attack. Sony said personal data, including
credit card numbers, may have been stolen. But the company said Sunday
it had not received any reports of the stolen information being used
illegally. Kazuho Hirai, chief of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation video
game unit, said in a statement that the company has beefed up security
measures to protect customers' personal data. While the partial
service allows users to enjoy video games and online chat, Sony said
consumers still cannot buy video games or other content by using credit
cards.
"While
we understand the importance of getting our services back online, we
did not rush to do so at the expense of extensively and aggressively
testing our enhanced security measures," Hirai said. Among the 100 million user accounts, Sony said about 92 million can access the limited PlayStation network service. The
network serves both the PlayStation video game machines and Sony's
Qriocity movie and music services. It is a system that also allows users
to upgrade and download games and other content. Sony spokesman
Sosuke Kamei said the company's probe into the hacker attack was
ongoing. He declined to give details on the investigation. Sony
was under heavy criticism over its handling of the network intrusion.
The company did not notify consumers of the breach until April 26 even
though it began investigating unusual activity on the network from April
19. Last month, U.S. lawyers filed a lawsuit against Sony on
behalf of lead plaintiff Kristopher Johns for negligent protection of
personal data and failure to inform players in a timely fashion that
their credit card information may have been stolen. The lawsuit seeks
class-action status. Since the shutdown of the PlayStation
Network on April 20, Sony's share price has dropped nearly nine percent
to close at 2,241 yen ($28) on Friday.