Sony to restore PlayStation network, Qriocity in Japan

Sony said Monday it would fully restore all PlayStation Network and Qriocity online distribution services in Japan on Wednesday, after shutting them down in April due to hacker attacks.

In the wake of the cyber attack, Sony shut down those services on April 20 to conduct an investigation and boost the overall security of the network infrastructure, it said in a statement.

Except for Japan, the Japanese electronics giant had already restored the services in all other countries and regions where they operated before the shutdown, including the Americas, Europe, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The hacking attack on Sony compromised personal data from 100 million accounts. Sony later suffered attacks on websites including in Greece, Thailand and Indonesia, and on the Canadian site of mobile phone company Sony Ericsson.

The technology giant faces a battle to regain the trust of millions of consumers after the attacks on networks integral to its strategy.

Analysts say the breach could cost it around $1 billion, but that attacks threatened deeper damage to Sony's brand image and its efforts to link its gadgets to an online network of games, movies and music.

(c) 2011 AFP