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Hack takes place
The PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were stolen and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from playing online through the service.The attack occurred between April 17 and April 19, 2011. -
Network turned off
Sony forced to turn off the PlayStation Network on April 20. -
Sony announce that they are aware of issues.
On April 20, 2011, Sony acknowledged that on the official PlayStation Blog that it was "aware certain functions of the PlayStation Network" were down. Upon attempting to sign in via the PlayStation 3, users received a message indicating that the network was "undergoing maintenance". The following day, Sony asked its customers for patience while the cause of outage was investigated and stated that it may take "a full day or two" to get the service fully functional again. -
Sony admit to intrusion.
On April 25, Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold reiterated on the PlayStation Blog that fixing and enhancing the network was a "time intensive" process with no estimated time of completion. However, the next day Sony stated that there was a "clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online", with some services expected to be restored within a week. Furthermore, Sony acknowledged the "compromise of personal information as a result of an illegal intrusion on our systems." -
Sony announce attempt to restore network.
Sony stated on April 26 that it was attempting to get online services running "within a week. -
Sony reveals "Welcome Back" package.
On May 1 Sony announced a "Welcome Back" program for customers affected by the outage. The company also confirmed that some PSN and Qriocity services would be available during the first week of May. -
Sony press release.
On May 2 Sony issued a press release, according to which the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) services had been taken offline for maintenance due to potentially related activities during the initial criminal hack. Over 12,000 credit card numbers from non-U.S. cardholders and additional information from 24.7 million SOE accounts may have been stolen. -
Sony confirms the hack
On May 4 Sony confirmed that personally identifiable information from each of the 77 million accounts appeared to have been stolen.The outage lasted 24 days. -
Relaunch delayed.
On May 6 Sony stated they had begun "final stages of internal testing" for the PlayStation Network, which had been rebuilt. However, the following day Sony reported that they would not be able to bring services back online within the one-week timeframe given on May 1, because "the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers" had not been known at the time. -
Sony release PlayStation 3 firmware security patch.
On May 14, Sony released PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.61 as a security patch. -
Outage costs $171 million
On May 23 Sony stated that the outage costs were $171 million