Sony Online Entertainment PlayStation Network Hack Timeline
April 19th
4:15 PM PST
Sony Network Entertainment America detects a unauthorized activity on approximately 130 servers, more specifically, servers were rebooting when not scheduled to, Sony begins to investigate
April 20th
Early afternoon
SNEA engineers discover evidence of an "unauthorized intrusion", data has been removed
SNEA engineers take all PlayStation Network and Qriocity offline, 77+million registered users effected
Sony engages the services of a computer forensics and security consulting firm
April 21st
Sony brings in a second security and forensics consultancy to investigate the growing problem
April 22nd
Sony mirrors 9 out of 10 affected servers
Sony's legal consult alerts the FBI to the security breach
Sony and The FBI schedule a meeting for April 27
Sony reveals on their blog that there was a "security intrusion" but no mention of a potential loss of data. No warning to consumers is provided
April 23rd
Afternoon
Forensic teams confirm that intruders used, "very sophisticated and aggressive techniques to obtain unauthorized access"
and were able to, "hide their presence from system administrators", "escalate privileges inside the server."
April 24th
Easter Sunday
Sony retains the services of a 3rd security and forensic team, This time:, A group with "highly specialized skills", Brought in to "determine the scope of the data theft"
April 25th
Security teams confirm account details compromised include:
Name
Address
Country
Birthdate
PlayStation Network/Qriocity password
Login Handle
Network ID
Security teams are uncertain if 12.3 million global credit cards stored on the servers have been compromised
5.6 million were from the U.S.
April 26th
Sony Network Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America
Publicly announce the network intrusion
Alert regulatory authorities in, New Jersey, Maryland, New Hampshire
April 27th
Sony Network Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America
Alert regulatory authorities in, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Puerto Rico
May 3rd
Sony Chairman Kaz Hirai
Sends 8 page official letter to Congressional Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, Informs them of the intrusion, explains the lead up to the attack, how it was first detected, the deep impact it is having on the firm
Outlines already imposed heightened security measures including:, adding automated software monitoring, enhanced levels of data protection and encryption, new firewalls, moving the data center to a different location, hiring a new Chief Information Security Officer
Closing statement:, "We ask the Committee to consider as well the connection between data security and the cybercrimes and cyber terrorism that threaten to make the Internet unsafe for consumers and commerce."
