PlayStation store online after six-week shutdown

PlayStation

Sony has put its PlayStation Store back online six weeks after the firm was hit by serious cyber attacks.

The site is now back up in both Europe and the US following the hacks in April, which saw data on over 100 million users go missing.

The website remains unavailable in Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.

"I'm happy to confirm that PlayStation Store is open and you can now download content and redeem voucher codes," a notice from Nick Caplin, head of communications at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, on the PlayStation blog read.

"You may have noticed that the content promised as part of the Welcome Back offer is not yet live. It is currently in the final stages of testing and will be available to download very soon; we'll be sure to let you know when."

The Welcome Back offer includes two free PS3 games and 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PS Plus subscribers, amongst other apologetic gifts.

James Thorpe, PlayStation Network product manager, admitted in a separate blog post the site came back "a little later than we hoped."

To make up for the delay, Thorpe confirmed today members of PS Plus who would have initially received 60 free days would now get 70.

Following the hacks, considered one of the biggest cyber security events of all time, Sony was criticised for how long it took to notify users.

The company defended its reaction to the breaches, saying it did the best it could to get the right information to users on time.

The rollout of the updated PlayStaton Network was hit by delays too, as it sought to ensure security was tight. The network is now up and running.

Read on for our look into how companies can fight hackers.

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.