The news that every Playstation 3 owner has been waiting to hear.
On April 20th, PSN went offline after a major security breach which left 77 million personal details and 12 million credit card numbers at risk. Since that time the folks over at Sony have been working around the clock to restore peace and order to the network, completely rebuilding it from the ground up. An official announcement from Sony states the following:
“We have been working on a new PS3 system software update that requires all PSN users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored. The update (v3.61) is mandatory and will be available soon.
If using a PS3, your password can only be changed on your own PS3 (or a PS3 on which your PSN account was activated), as an added layer of security. If you have never downloaded any content using your account on the system, an email will be sent to the registered sign-in ID (email address) associated with your account when you first attempt to sign-in to PSN. This e-mail will contain a link that will enable you to change your password. In this email, click on the link and follow the instructions to change your password. Once you have changed your password you can sign-in to your account using your new password.
We strongly recommend that all PSN account holders with PS3s update their systems to prepare for when PlayStation Network is back online. The release of this update is a critical step as we work to make PlayStation Network significantly more secure. Thank you for your continued support and patience.”
Sony still has a tough job ahead of themselves, while matchmaking has been restored which allows users to resume playing online favourites such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and Uncharted 2, we still have to wait for other services to come back online such as the PSN store and Qriocity. For now though, I think the majority of gamers can be somewhat satisfied with being able to once again call in aistrikes, capture flags and come in 1st place in a street race.
Official Announcement from Sony Corporation President Kaz Hirai [1]