Even Sony's PlayStation Website Infected

A recent spate of virus attacks has infected over 790 websites. Included in those attacks was the Sony PlayStation site. Pages for SingStar Pop and God of War were infected with SQL-injected code, which caused visitors to those sites to see a bogus antivirus scan and a message that their computer was in fact infected with malware. The aim was to frighten users into purchasing software to delouse their computers. Not to worry as Sony has since removed the injected code. Says security research expert Dancho Danchev:

If you don’t take care of your web application vulnerabilities, someone else will.

You tell 'em Dancho!

Sony PlayStation’s site SQL injected [ZDNet via CNET] [Pic]

Boston Globe Discovers Video Game Addiction

The Boston Globe has an intriguing question and answer session up with Dr. Jerald Block, who specializes in online video game addiction.

Block, a psychiatrist in Portland, Ore., recently wrote an editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry arguing that Internet Addiction should become a new diagnostic term.

It's interesting to read his thoughts and them to compare it to the things being said by the psychiatrists I interviewed back in 1999 when I wrote a story about how researchers think that Internet and Sex addiction are very similar. Back then a David Greenfield, director for the Center of Internet Studies, told me that the Internet was addictive and that that particular form of addiction was nearing a national epidemic... yet somehow we survived.

Unlike the Globe's story, my 1999 story has at least one well-known psychology researcher arguing that obsessive use of the internet isn't really about addiction, but curiosity of a new technology.

Block, who has some genuinely interesting ideas, also talks about the tie between school shooters and compulsive computer use, making sure not to say that computers cause violence.

BLOCK: With these shooters, their last act was to turn against their own computers. As a psychiatrist, I think that's relevant.

'Craft Addicts: Do online games trigger a new psychiatric disorder? [Boston Globe]

Doctor Who is coming to the Wii...sort of! The BBC has announced that their iPlayer replay service will now be functional on the Nintendo Wii. The service, made available last month on the iPod Touch and iPhone, presents time-limited replays of BBC shows, such as Doctor Who, Torchwood, and whatever else they have worth watching. Wii owners in the UK will be able to browse to the page and grab their favorite shows.

"This exciting alliance with the BBC is yet another way in which Nintendo is looking to broaden the market for its products by offering compelling and relevant content to families," added David Yarnton, general manager of Nintendo UK.

Wii gets BBC iPlayer [GamesIndustry.biz]

The Internet's got Jesse McPherson's back.

On March 12 McPherson returned from SXSW to discover that his home had been broken into and that the burglar had made off with his Xbox 360, an old Powerbook and a television.

Familiar with the competence of the Philadelphia police, McPherson decided to hunt for the items himself and soon found that the burglar had tried to sell his laptop at a local pawn shop, which has images of the guy from their camera. He tries to give the info to police, but never hears back.

Fast forward to Friday when McPherson's workmates present him with a replacement Xbox 360. He goes home, hooks it up and discovers a voice message on his 360 from some guy saying he has his 360 and wants cash to give it back. Better still the idiot uses his current account to leave the message.

McPherson calls police again and is hung up on... so he turns things over to the Internet and business is handled.

China Launching 'Operation For Tomorrow' Crackdown

What would modern China be without campaigns? This one's lacking in a snappy name and related propaganda, but the government is gearing up to go after those hotbeds of moral decay, crime, and WoW: internet cafes. Introducing "Operation for Tomorrow," targeting unlicensed websites, internet cafes, and porn.

Internet cafes have been repeatedly targeted for breeding juvenile crime and promoting truancy, despite widely ignored rules barring anyone under 18 from admission. Located in towns and small cities throughout China, internet cafes mainly offer online games that are popular among young people. Authorities have blamed the cafes for Internet addiction and for encouraging juvenile crime as a way to earn money to play online games.

First the problem was that kids were so busy playing WoW and other MMORPGs that they didn't have time for anything else; now the problem is that WoW's keeping them too busy ... with crime? Does this mean we'll see a related drop off in suspect addiction 'treatment' methods?

China Targets Internet in Crime Sweep [AP]

Chinese Government Cracking Down on Online Gaming

Ziff Sets Us Straight On Stolen Street Fighter IV Pics

Earlier today, we posted about the plight of "tiny Brazilian blog" Blogeek, who, as you may remember, posted a pair of screen shots of Street Fighter IV yesterday. Amazingly, the site scooped 1UP to its own exclusive, claiming it had received the screens and details on the Capcom fighter from an "anonymous source." The site's owner, Douglas Pereira, wrote us this morning, crying out for help. "Ziff Davis is going after me. They're chasing me," he lamented. It was very heart-wrenching.

Sounds like EGM and 1UP were quite justified in their legal "picking on" of Pereira and Blogeek. He's an EGM Brazil freelancer and has now admitted to swiping the pics from Ziff-Davis' own media servers. EGM editor-in-chief Dan Hsu, who says ZD has the IP logs of the transgression to back it up, explains.

Japanese Internet Cafes Not Really into Gaming

Evites, the invite site for all your party needs, has now added Nintendo and the Wii to its roster of pre-made internet invites. Birthday parties, family reunions or just a simple Wii Sports or Mario themed party, all your bases are covered. So get with the hip internet set and send a Wii evite today. Or you could just embarrass yourself by sending a terribly outmoded Party City invitation over snail mail. The choice is yours.

Wii party invites at Evites [Evites]

Techland dropped us a line to let us know that the official website for Dead Island just went live. Sure to be your number one source for Dead Island info, the site contains links to press stories, screenshots, videos, and community forums so you can politely discuss the game with like-minded fellows, or call them asshats. You can sign up for the newsletter via the site as well to stay up to date on important Dead Island news, such as website openings.

Dead Island Official Website [Techland]

Gaming Makes MySpace and YouTube Its Bitch

"Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities," James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates, said in a prepared statement.

Chinese Internet Deathcamp, In Graphic Video

Yesterday was pretty traumatic. Microsoft's Peter Moore is no longer Microsoft's. He's moved onto Electronic Arts, leaving a gianormous charismatic hole in the Xbox division's front office. Some dude is replacing Moore. Not sure who or what this dude is, but following in Moore's footsteps will be hard. Just look at Moore's gaming cred: he previously worked on the Dreamcast for SEGA and later got tattoos for Microsoft. That's bad ass. Sure, the new dude's got a track record, but how can he top that? Impossible!

Which is why I am starting an entirely inappropriate internet campaign: bring back J. When the Xbox originally launched, the then chubby exec was everywhere. Jallard got thinner, cooler and more eXtreme as the Xbox 360 launch drew near, and then POOF, he was gone — off to work on the Zune or something. Right now, he's probably holed up, working on Microsoft's answer to the iPhone. A waste! We don't want a Microsoft iPhone. We want J saying stuff about the Xbox 360, riding mountain bikes and being eXtreme. Sure, Allard might be a phony or whatever, but he's quotable and wears hoodies! Best of all, we've actually creeped him out. Think we'll be able to creep out Moore's replacement? Ha! J's the Prodigal Son, Microsoft, and it's about friggin' time he came home.

Sign below to show you're support for The Return of Jallard:

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