2011 PlayStation Network Breach Settlement Reached

In what may be the closing chapter in the 2011 breach of the PlayStation Network, Sony has agreed to pay a settlement of $15 Million for users whose identities were compromised in the cyber attack.

The settlement will be paid out to users of the PlayStation Network through several options of free games- Infamous and LittleBigPlanet are among the offered titles - themes, or three free months of PlayStation Plus.

Users who already claimed a free game through the Welcome Back program- an initiative launched by Sony in the months after the Playstation Network originally went down- will be able to choose one of the payout options. Users who did not take advantage of the Welcome Back program can select two.

The settlement doesn’t write a blank check for PlayStation Network users, however. Players who did not use the Welcome Back program will be capped at $6 Million in content, while players who did take advantage of the program will be capped at $4 Million. After the limits are met in either category, your only option will be a free month of PlayStation Plus.

Users of the Sony Online Entertainment service who were affected can also apply to receive $4.50 in Station Cash. Once $4 Million is paid out to this group, additional payments will be made to users in incrementally smaller amounts.

Additionally, the settlement provides $1 Million in total to compensate users who can prove that their identity was compromised. Users can submit a claim for up to $2,500, provided they submit evidence that their identity was exposed.

You can read the full legal document of the settlement here.

In April of 2011, Sony’s PlayStation Network and Qriocity music service mysteriously went offline, leaving users stranded and without access to their accounts. It soon emerged that the network’s security systems may have been breached, exposing many users’ personal data, including addresses, and possibly even encrypted credit card data. In the months that followed, Sony put out a notice through their FAQ on the service disruption, that warned users to be wary of scammers attempting to complete their personal and credit card data through posing as Sony. Posts on several message boards also suggested that hackers were attempting to sell off the credit card data they had gleaned from the cyber intrusion, though there was no way to substantiate those claims.

The scandal eventually attracted the attention of both the American Department of Homeland Security, and the British Government. The latter eventually ordered Sony to pay out £250,000 in fines for “preventable” loss of sensitive data, due to Sony’s lack of security safeguards.

We’ll have more for you on the settlement as it becomes available.

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Peter Yankowski

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Peter Yankowski is a freelance writer and blogger. When he's not getting blasted out of the digital skies by Messerchmitts, or cutting work to carve a twisty New England road, Peter writes about gaming news, history in games, and military geekitude.