Sony is putting in place a number of new secuirty measures following the hacking of the PlayStation Network on April 18. The service is still offline following a cyber-attack that compromised the personal details of over 70 million user accounts, but Sony says it won't reopen the network until it's entirely happy that it's secure.

In a statement on the official PlayStation Blog, Sony's U.S. Director of Corporate Communications Patrick Seybold confirmed some of the measures being taken:

"We are taking a number of steps to prevent future breaches," reads the statement. This will include "enhanced levels of data protection and encryption; enhanced ability to detect software intrusions, unauthorized access and unusual activity patterns; additional firewalls; establishment of a new data center in an undisclosed location with increased security; and the naming of a new Chief Information Security Officer."

Sony also confirmed that it had "been the victim of a very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber attack." Hacktivist group "Anonymous" are said to be involved. As some form of compensation, Sony has promised users one month's free access to the subscription-based PlayStation Plus service, while U.S. users will receive complimentary identitfy theft protection.

Source: PlayStation Blog