Sony's phasing out of the PlayStation 3 may have extreme consequences for long-time fans of the console family. As security loosens on the two-gen old hardware, a horrendous PS3 ID leak may be behind a recent wave of PSN bans.
PS3 ID leak linked to bans
A reported breach of PlayStation's PS3 servers has allegedly resulted in the leakage of every PS3 ID serial number. According to an online report, PS3 serial numbers leaked following the release of a Sony folder. For a brief moment, every active PlayStation 3 was identifiable from this folder.
That leak was months ago. However, the PS3 ID leak has reportedly resulted in bans of a number of PlayStation 3 accounts. Furthermore, those bans extend across the entirety of the PlayStation Network, possibly resulting in bans on PS4 and PS5.
Following the leaks, several PlayStation message boards have been flooded with posts regarding bans. Many attempting to sign on have been greeted with Error Message 8071006. While some players have been able to gain access to PSN again after enabling two-factor authentication, others haven't gained access again.
While some have lost access to PlayStation Network, others simply lost access to their PlayStation 3 console entirely. Thankfully, the spread to other consoles seems to be minimal.
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Hackers are using the info
While not concrete, some users are reporting that certain hackers are using the information maliciously. This could be part of the reason behind the sheer number of bans that are occurring following the PS3 ID leak.
At the time of writing, Sony hasn't commented on the leak or the following ban wave. However, other outlets have reported a correlation between the leaked serial numbers and banned users. Unfortunately, that's the only concrete link between the two.
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