Shawn Layden, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, sells the first PlayStation VR system to a lucky fan. (Photo : Getty Images/Noam Galai)
Sony has denied reports appearing in a section of media that its PlayStation network has been hacked. The denial comes in the wake of complaints by some users in the United Kingdom that their accounts have been blocked and they were unable to log in.
Over the past few days, more and more PlayStation gamers in the U.K. have complained that they fear their online accounts have been hijacked. They added that they were unable to log in as the network did not their email address or password, Mancunion reported. Many of them have even contacted the company via its UK Twitter account.
We're closed for tonight, but not to worry! We're back tomorrow to answer all of your questions again at 9 a.m. Have a great night, folks!
— Ask PlayStation UK (@AskPS_UK) November 15, 2016
Many users, who managed to regain their Sony PlayStation accounts, even complained that funds were missing from their accounts. Some even claimed that large sums of money were withdrawn from associated bank accounts and put into their PlayStation Store wallets
However, the present outrage is not similar to problem PlayStation gamers faced in 2011, when the entire service was taken offline affecting users even in places outside the U.K. During the 2011 outrage, details of as many as 77 million accounts were leaked to malicious hackers. This outrage is not only considered to be among the largest data security breaches in history, but also the largest infringement of any gaming network ever.
Following the incident in 2011, Sony was compelled to launch a compensation campaign including offering the users a choice of free games plus a 30-day free subscription to PlayStation Plus. Although the present situation is not a large-scale breach, the consequences are no less troubling, the report said.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Sony told the BBC that there was no hijacking of its PlayStation Network. On the contrary, the Japanese conglomerate pointed to other potential causes.
In a statement released to the British media giant, Sony said, "We routinely monitor for irregular activity, and if such activity is detected, we may sometimes reset passwords of affected accounts to protect users and their account information." Nevertheless, the company apologized to the users on Twitter for the inconvenience caused to them owing to the delay in reinstating their accounts.
At the same time, Sony advised the users to watch their accounts closely for any abnormal activity. Users have also been counseled not to use their username or password into any unofficial sites, which are engaged in phishing credentials on the basis of fake promotions.
Watch how you can recover your stolen PSN account below:
