Sony Says Parts of Playstation Network Will Be Back Online This Week

 

TOKYO — Sony said Sunday that parts of its PlayStation network will be back online “this week” after hackers infiltrated the service, made off with detailed personal information and forced a catastrophic system shutdown.

But it could take until the end of the month for a full reboot of the PlayStation Network, which links 77 million gamers worldwide, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company announced at a press conference in Tokyo.

“I am deeply sorry for worrying, and inconveniencing, our users,” said Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s executive deputy president, bowing deeply.

The security debacle has dealt a serious blow to Sony’s bid to build an online network that brings gaming and music content to its universe of gadgets. Sony has lagged behind in building an online presence behind the likes of Apple and its popular online iTunes and App Store services.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment company has also faced questions about whether it moved quickly enough to inform its users of the breach. The PlayStation network went down on April 20, but Sony did not disclose that personal data had been stolen until a full week later.

A subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives has sent a letter to Sony asking for information about the attack, including when the intrusion occurred, if Sony knew who was responsible for the attack and when the company notified law enforcement.

According to Sony, an “unauthorized person” hacked into Sony servers last month and obtained personal information on PlayStation and Qriocity account holders, including their names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and user names and passwords for the PlayStation Network.

The company said that other confidential information, including credit card numbers, could have been compromised, warning customers to “remain vigilant” by monitoring identity theft or other financial loss.

The hacker attack targeted Sony severs over three days in mid-April, Mr. Hirai said. The company first became aware of the unauthorized access on April 19, and shut down its servers the following day.

Sony said usernames and passwords to the network were not encrypted, but the credit card information it had for about 10 million users had been encrypted and that there was yet no evidence that this data was taken.

The company was working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as legal enforcement agencies in other countries, in investigating the attack, it said.

Mr. Hirai acknowledged that Sony had been slow in providing information on the network breach to its users. It had taken the company time to gather accurate data on the breach, he explained.

“Inspecting and analyzing a vast amount of data unfortunately took a lot of time,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that the information we provided was accurate as possible.”

Mr. Hirai said that Sony’s online networks would remain central to the company’s business. Sony’s new Qriocity service, which is used to stream audio and video to high-end Sony televisions, Sony Blu-ray players and other Web-enabled Sony devices, was also knocked offline in the attack.

Once the network is up and running, Sony users will be forced to change their passwords before they can connect. Sony will offer free content and other freebies as part of an “appreciation program,” the company said.

Many features will be back up this week, but its PlayStation Store, where users buy games, movies and other downloadable content, will not be available until later this month, Sony said.

“Sony continues to place utmost priority on its network strategy,” Mr. Hirai said. “We intend to continue our global expansion.”