Sony Playstation Network temporarily inaccessible

For a few hours early Thursday (Manila time), Sony's PlayStation Network was inaccessible to users, with Sony apologizing for the "inconvenience." While Sony's PlayStation (US and EU) acknowledged the problem in their Twitter accounts, they did not say if the downtime stemmed from a hack or intrusion. "We're aware that some of you are having issues trying to log into PSN. We're working to resolve the issue, and we'll update you here," the PlayStation US Twitter account said. After five hours, it issued another tweet indicating the problem may have been resolved. "PSN update: If you encountered issues logging in today, try logging in now. Apologies for the inconvenience!" it said. At about the same time PlayStation US tweeted acknowledgment that some users had trouble logging in, PlayStation EU tweeted in its own account that PSN was "currently unavailable" (http://twitter.com/#!/PlayStationEU/status/116531105682833408). At about 7 a.m. (Manila time), PlayStation EU said restoration was complete. "The PSN restoration is now complete and you should all be able to sign in. Again, sincere apologies for the inconvenience," it said. A separate article on tech site CNET said many PlayStation members logging in during the downtime were greeted with an error message. CNET reported many voiced their frustration questioning why the PSN is "down AGAIN." "Sony, why is the Playstation Network down AGAIN. You are letting us down and embarrassing us in front of Xbox users," CNET quoted Daniel J. Armstrong as saying. CNET noted PSN downtime is a sensitive subject for many following a month of PSN outages earlier this year that were ultimately pegged to cyberbattacks. In the wake of the cyberattacks, Sony issued multiple apologies and the promise of a strengthened network, and offered affected users a $1 million identity theft insurance policy and free games. It also gave all PSN members affected by the outage access to PlayStation Plus for a month. — TJD, GMA News