While we all wait for the Sony Online Entertainment services to come back online following an attack on the network, SOE posted a brief FAQ today to keep players updated on the situation. While they don't provide any new details, SOE has said it will continue to post updates to the site with new information as it becomes available. 

According to the FAQ, some games and services are expected to be up and running "soon." SOE emphasizes that the services will only be restored once the network is secure. SOE spokewoman Taina Rodriguez told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the network will be shut down until Friday and possibly longer, so it certainly looks like players should remain patient during this downtime.

You can read the current FAQ after the jump. As a reminder, SOE has confirmed that hackers may have obtained personal information from SOE systems, so be wary of any phishing scams that you may receive through e-mail. SOE will be granting customers 30 days of additional time on their subscriptions, in addition to compensating them one day for each day the system is down.

During the downtime you are welcome to join us in ZAM's IRC chat. Feldon of EQ2Wire also has set up a ZAM IRC java applet that you can use.

Recent Updates - May 4, 2011

When will SOE's services be back online?

We have been working around the clock to restore operations as quickly as possible, and we expect to have some of our games and services up and running soon. However, we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we believe that the network is secure.

How is the SOE intrusion related to the PSN/Qriocity intrusion? Was this a second attack on SOE?

While the two systems are distinct and operated separately, given that they are both under the Sony umbrella, there is some degree of overlap in design. The attacks were similar in nature. This is NOT a second attack; new information has been discovered as part of our ongoing investigation into the criminal attack in April.

How is SOE planning to notify customers whose data may have been stolen?

We are sending out customer service notification emails to the email addresses we have on file for the accounts that were affected. These emails will be sent by Innovyx, our third party email distributor, and contained either 'soe.innovyx.net' or 'soe.sony.com' in the sender field.

SOE initially thought no data was extracted, what changed?

Essentially the perpetrators used sophisticated means not only to access the data, but also to cover their tracks. We committed to continue the investigation and in doing so, uncovered further information that we did not have when we initially believed the data was not stolen.