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http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/account/forgotpw.html http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/accou... For having three d

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/account/forgotpw.html http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/accou... For having three different security firms working with Sony on the hack a month ago, are they really just pushing out the new PSN without a proper, full security review? I mean, any competent developer would immediately realize that this password reset system is flawed by design, especially with the fact that the user's information requested is the information the hackers already have! This does not bode well for the near future of PSN as a whole. If something as simple as a password reset feature is still being built without security in mind, then how does the rest of the updated system fare?

simias 15y ago
I must say I'm baffled. I logged back into my PSN account via my PS3 yesterday, it directly asked me to change my password when I tried to use my previous credentials. No confirmation needed, it just sends you an email afterwards to notify you that your password has been changed. At this point I assumed that it had used my PS3 hardware ID + my (static) IP + whatever to correlate that in all likelihood it must have been a legitimate login, which was already a bit weird but I guess they wanted to make it as simple as possible for everybody. But this is just outstanding. It's really security 101 failure. As others have pointed out, using a regular password reset email with a unique token would have been much more safe, albeit not foolproof (some people would have lost their emails accounts they used to register by now). Sony deserves everything that's happening (and will probably continue to happen) to them. The sad part is that I'm sure a majority of the gamers sony really targets must still be chanting "xbox sucks go sony lol" and still think geohot or anonymous or santa is to blame. -- A very unhappy PS3 (and its ancestors) owner.
- ZoFreX 15y ago
  If you are referring to changing your password the first time you logged in after the breach, then what is happening is that PSN knows you created that account on that PlayStation, hence the lack of confirmation. I created my account on a friend's PS3, and when I signed in I got sent an email which contained a password reset link. It's rather strange then, given how secure the reset process was post-hack (and I think they did a really good job of making it secure and convenient) that they left such a gaping and obvious hole!
- Xurinos 15y ago
  The sad part is that I'm sure a majority of the gamers sony really targets ... still think geohot or anonymous or santa is to blame. As a fellow PS3 player, I have an alternate point of view: I do not care about anyone's personal crusades. I just want to play some online games. I believe multiple sources are at fault. One is at fault for providing the gun to the public, another is at fault for shooting the gun, and the third is at fault for not wearing a bulletproof vest. If I were to speculate on where most of the blame should be placed, I would be hardpressed to blame the victim. I point my finger at the gunmen. I am part of the collateral damage, a civilian caught in the crossfire, caught in friendly fire.
  - ambiguity 15y ago
    If it is your credit card information, you would seem to be the victim. In that case Sony is playing the role similar to the US government and is only offering you a shirt instead of a bullet proof vest. The original analogy though is only accurate depending on where this is taking place. A person living in the suburbs would seem silly for wearing a bullet proof vest. A person walking into a war zone without a vest is an idiot. The question is, which of the two locations best describes the internet.
    - dedward 15y ago
      If it's my credit card information then all the merchants who end up passing my card fraudulently are the victims, because they are the ones who won't get paid. I won't have to pay a dime for transactions I didn't authorize. I suppose I could call "victim" for having to watch my statements more closely, but everyone does that anyway, right?
- stcredzero 15y ago
  It's really security 101 failure. ... Sony deserves everything that's happening (and will probably continue to happen) to them. The sad part is that I'm sure a majority of the gamers sony really targets must still be chanting "xbox sucks go sony lol"... The effective collective IQ of Sony has sunk below average at this point, and the company lumbers along on network effects. Maybe there's room now for a gaming platform that's not a physical console? I hope the collective IQ analogy doesn't also work for the United States!
  - seanp2k 15y ago
    >"Maybe there's room now for a gaming platform that's not a physical console?" Steam has been alive and well for at least a few years now.
  - neutronicus 15y ago
    > Maybe there's room now for a gaming platform that's not a physical console? What do you mean by this? A resurgence in PC gaming? I hope not. I have absolutely no desire to return to the PC gaming obsolescence cycle.
- bproper 15y ago
  Every day that went by where they didn't respond drew further outcry in the press and from government. So they rushed something out. Caught between a rock and a hard place.
stcredzero 15y ago
any competent developer would immediately realize that this password reset system is flawed by design, especially with the fact that the user's information requested is the information the hackers already have! One conclusion: there is a high prevalence of incompetent programmers at companies like Sony, combined with an unsatisfactory ability of management to ferret them out.
tzs 15y ago
> I mean, any competent developer would immediately realize that this password reset system is flawed by design, especially with the fact that the user's information requested is the information the hackers already have! That's not actually the problem here. It's pretty standard practice to only ask for an email address to initiate a password reset. Google, for example, only asks for email address. Asking for additional information, like DOB, isn't really a security measure. It's more of an annoyance prevention measure, to make it slightly harder for random people to initiate password resets in your name. The problem with what Sony was doing is that you could circumvent the verification that you had access to the email address you gave. The way it is supposed to work is that you initiate a password reset, and the site sends you a link that you have to follow to get to the form where the actual password reset takes place and you enter a new password. The security comes not from knowing your email address and DOB, but rather from having to actually have access to the email. The way Sony's site was working, when you initiated the reset request it was possible to figure out what the link was that sent in the email, and hence finish the reset process without having access to the email. Oops.

simias 15y ago

I must say I'm baffled. I logged back into my PSN account via my PS3 yesterday, it directly asked me to change my password when I tried to use my previous credentials. No confirmation needed, it just sends you an email afterwards to notify you that your password has been changed. At this point I assumed that it had used my PS3 hardware ID + my (static) IP + whatever to correlate that in all likelihood it must have been a legitimate login, which was already a bit weird but I guess they wanted to make it as simple as possible for everybody. But this is just outstanding. It's really security 101 failure. As others have pointed out, using a regular password reset email with a unique token would have been much more safe, albeit not foolproof (some people would have lost their emails accounts they used to register by now). Sony deserves everything that's happening (and will probably continue to happen) to them. The sad part is that I'm sure a majority of the gamers sony really targets must still be chanting "xbox sucks go sony lol" and still think geohot or anonymous or santa is to blame. -- A very unhappy PS3 (and its ancestors) owner.

ZoFreX 15y ago
If you are referring to changing your password the first time you logged in after the breach, then what is happening is that PSN knows you created that account on that PlayStation, hence the lack of confirmation. I created my account on a friend's PS3, and when I signed in I got sent an email which contained a password reset link. It's rather strange then, given how secure the reset process was post-hack (and I think they did a really good job of making it secure and convenient) that they left such a gaping and obvious hole!
Xurinos 15y ago
The sad part is that I'm sure a majority of the gamers sony really targets ... still think geohot or anonymous or santa is to blame. As a fellow PS3 player, I have an alternate point of view: I do not care about anyone's personal crusades. I just want to play some online games. I believe multiple sources are at fault. One is at fault for providing the gun to the public, another is at fault for shooting the gun, and the third is at fault for not wearing a bulletproof vest. If I were to speculate on where most of the blame should be placed, I would be hardpressed to blame the victim. I point my finger at the gunmen. I am part of the collateral damage, a civilian caught in the crossfire, caught in friendly fire.
- ambiguity 15y ago
  If it is your credit card information, you would seem to be the victim. In that case Sony is playing the role similar to the US government and is only offering you a shirt instead of a bullet proof vest. The original analogy though is only accurate depending on where this is taking place. A person living in the suburbs would seem silly for wearing a bullet proof vest. A person walking into a war zone without a vest is an idiot. The question is, which of the two locations best describes the internet.
  - dedward 15y ago
    If it's my credit card information then all the merchants who end up passing my card fraudulently are the victims, because they are the ones who won't get paid. I won't have to pay a dime for transactions I didn't authorize. I suppose I could call "victim" for having to watch my statements more closely, but everyone does that anyway, right?
stcredzero 15y ago
It's really security 101 failure. ... Sony deserves everything that's happening (and will probably continue to happen) to them. The sad part is that I'm sure a majority of the gamers sony really targets must still be chanting "xbox sucks go sony lol"... The effective collective IQ of Sony has sunk below average at this point, and the company lumbers along on network effects. Maybe there's room now for a gaming platform that's not a physical console? I hope the collective IQ analogy doesn't also work for the United States!
- seanp2k 15y ago
  >"Maybe there's room now for a gaming platform that's not a physical console?" Steam has been alive and well for at least a few years now.
- neutronicus 15y ago
  > Maybe there's room now for a gaming platform that's not a physical console? What do you mean by this? A resurgence in PC gaming? I hope not. I have absolutely no desire to return to the PC gaming obsolescence cycle.
bproper 15y ago
Every day that went by where they didn't respond drew further outcry in the press and from government. So they rushed something out. Caught between a rock and a hard place.

stcredzero 15y ago

any competent developer would immediately realize that this password reset system is flawed by design, especially with the fact that the user's information requested is the information the hackers already have! One conclusion: there is a high prevalence of incompetent programmers at companies like Sony, combined with an unsatisfactory ability of management to ferret them out.

tzs 15y ago

> I mean, any competent developer would immediately realize that this password reset system is flawed by design, especially with the fact that the user's information requested is the information the hackers already have! That's not actually the problem here. It's pretty standard practice to only ask for an email address to initiate a password reset. Google, for example, only asks for email address. Asking for additional information, like DOB, isn't really a security measure. It's more of an annoyance prevention measure, to make it slightly harder for random people to initiate password resets in your name. The problem with what Sony was doing is that you could circumvent the verification that you had access to the email address you gave. The way it is supposed to work is that you initiate a password reset, and the site sends you a link that you have to follow to get to the form where the actual password reset takes place and you enter a new password. The security comes not from knowing your email address and DOB, but rather from having to actually have access to the email. The way Sony's site was working, when you initiated the reset request it was possible to figure out what the link was that sent in the email, and hence finish the reset process without having access to the email. Oops.