Sony Europe Resets PSN Passwords as Precaution, Forgets to Tell Customers
Sony's been the target of more than one high profile hacker attack in the past few years, so it's understandable if the company is a bit on edge. To underscore that point, Sony Europe recently took the "precautionary measure" of resetting passwords for some PlayStation Network users in which irregularly activity was detected. That's fine and dandy, except that Sony didn't tell its members what it did.
"So I've been trying for a good hour or so to try and login on my devices (PS3, Vita, phone app), and they're all saying my login is incorrect," a user posted in Sony Europe's support forum. "My initial reaction was I've been hacked and someone's changed the details, but if the details were changed would I not have received an email saying so? So then I thought maybe I've been banned but I've neither done anything that is a bannable offense nor is it saying the account is banned when I try to sign in."
Other users quickly chimed in with similar experiences trying to log into PSN before Sony chimed in with an explanation. At first, an online support coordinator for Sony simply told users that if they're having trouble logging in, to reset their password. When pressed for more information, the support rep offered up a few additional details.
"We monitor PSN account for any irregular activity. If such activity is detected we will sometimes reset passwords. This was done purely as precautionary measure and there was no specific evidence that any accounts had be compromised," the support rep stated.
Beyond that, the rep added that only a "small number of users were affected," and that no other details could be given on the subject as doing so would "affect our ability to keep you guys safe."
"So I've been trying for a good hour or so to try and login on my devices (PS3, Vita, phone app), and they're all saying my login is incorrect," a user posted in Sony Europe's support forum. "My initial reaction was I've been hacked and someone's changed the details, but if the details were changed would I not have received an email saying so? So then I thought maybe I've been banned but I've neither done anything that is a bannable offense nor is it saying the account is banned when I try to sign in."
Other users quickly chimed in with similar experiences trying to log into PSN before Sony chimed in with an explanation. At first, an online support coordinator for Sony simply told users that if they're having trouble logging in, to reset their password. When pressed for more information, the support rep offered up a few additional details.
"We monitor PSN account for any irregular activity. If such activity is detected we will sometimes reset passwords. This was done purely as precautionary measure and there was no specific evidence that any accounts had be compromised," the support rep stated.
Beyond that, the rep added that only a "small number of users were affected," and that no other details could be given on the subject as doing so would "affect our ability to keep you guys safe."
