Following Hacks, Sony Restarts PlayStation Network

Sony started restoring limited service to its online networks yesterday after taking its popular gaming system offline nearly a month ago after a massive security breach that affected 100 million users, reports the Wall Street Journal. Internet gaming, movie rentals, music services, and online video streaming are the first operations to be restored; full service should be restored by month's end. While the partial service allows users to play video games and chat online, Sony said consumers still cannot buy video games or other content using credit cards.

All PlayStation3 customers will have to download a security patch and change their passwords upon initial login. To ease frustrated users' headaches, Sony will offer a variety of "welcome-back" packages that grant access to content that is typically limited, along with other freebies. "We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident, and are making consumer data protection a full-time, company wide commitment," said the head of Sony's gaming division. (More Sony stories.)