Over the weekend, Sony began to bring its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment network services back online following a security breach on April 20 which resulted in all services being taken offline.

The Japanese electronics company confirmed that the worldwide restoration of its services has begun in North America and Europe, though Japan's switch on will be slightly delayed. When users boot us the PS3, they'll be prompted to download an update, which adds the extra security measures that Sony has put in place during the downtime.

The hacking of Sony's services resulted in a data breach that compromised over 100 million customer accounts. It's currently unknown whether anyone has been affected directly by the loss of their personal data.

"We know even the most loyal customers have been frustrated by this process and are anxious to use their Sony products and services again," said Kazuo Hirai, head of Sony's game division. "We are taking aggressive action at all levels to address the concerns that were raised by this incident and are making consumer data protection a full-time, companywide commitment."

The perpetrators of the attack still haven't been caught, but all fingers point to a group of hackers called "Anonymous" who left a file on Sony's server bearing their name. "Anonymous" stringently denies the attack as the search continues. If you still can't log-on today, then don't worry. Sony says that the switch on could take some time. "Please be patient – it can take a little while for the servers to populate fully," reads a statement on the official blog.