• May 16, 2011

Having sought to control damage from a highly publicized hacking of its PlayStation Network, Sony has begun restoring the service for its nearly 77 million users.

The PlayStation Network and its Qriocity Service were forced offline nearly a month ago after hackers gained access to the company's servers, possibly compromising personal and financial data for its 77 million users.

The company said it would begin restoring the networks with an increased sensitivity to attacks, saying it had made enhancements to its data security and would relaunch the program on a country by country basis, according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, the International Business Times reported Sony would offer existing registered users a "Welcome Back" package that would include free games, free movie rentals and a month of access to the subscription PlayStation Plus and Qriocity's Music Unlimited services. PS3 users would also be able to download two free games, according to the paper.