Despite Reports, Sony Says PlayStation Network Was Not Hacked Again

Reports that Sony has suffered yet another hack are greatly exaggerated, the gaming company said today.

A report on Nyleveia.com earlier today stated that new vulnerabilities had been discovered on the Sony PlayStation Network and that user account data was at risk.

Several news outlets followed the initial story with reports that the PlayStation Network, which was down for almost three weeks following a series of three hacks, had been compromised again.

In several updates, however, Nyleveia reported that the exploit was a new discovery and that its reports were intended as a warning to users that they should reset their passwords.

"If the current downtime for the web based forms results in the exploit being patched, then our job is done and the potential thieft of countless user accounts has been nipped in the bud as early as humanly possible," the site says.

Sony conceded that it did block PSN login access to a number of users on its site, and the PSN password reset site was also taken offline for a period of hours. "Unfortunately this also means that those who are still trying to change their password via Playstation.com or Qriocity.com will be unable to do so for the time being," the company said.

In a later statement on it its company blog, Sony said that the systems had been restored and no new hacks had occurred.

"We temporarily took down the PSN and Qriocity password reset page," the company says. "Contrary to some reports, there was no hack involved. In the process of resetting of passwords, there was a URL exploit that we have subsequently fixed.

"Consumers who haven’t reset their passwords for PSN are still encouraged to do so directly on their PS3," Sony adds. "Otherwise, they can continue to do so via the website as soon as we bring that site back up."

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