Sony's PlayStation Network is back online in the US, Canada, and Europe. Users are required to change their password to regain access.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sony’s PSN has been offline since April 21 when a security breach was discovered. As a result 77 million customer records were lost and an additional 24 million accounts were compromised.

Sony has restored their PSN for customers in the United States, Canada and Europe. Customers will be required to update their PS3’s firmware to v3.61 as well as change their password.

According to Sony the following services have been restored:

• Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords
• Playstation Home
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC
• Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv
• Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP
• Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• 'Friends' category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc

In the video below, Sony Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai, apologizes for the long outage. Because the attacks were very sophisticated, Sony needed more time to test and install the new security measures across their entire system.

Sony has also offered their customers additional protection by enrolling them, free of charge, in identify protection programs in countries were programs such as cyber monitoring or insurance is available.

Sony pledges the only way to protect against cybercrime is to upgrade their systems to minimize the vulnerabilities against cyber attacks. Sony also stated that they will monitor their systems aggressively so that they can take quicker action if another attack should every happen again. now plans to make consumer protection, of their personal data, a full-time job.