Reddit users are warning PS4 owners to change their messaging settings to private.
Multiple threads on r/PS4 have noted that a glitch is occurring in the messaging system that can completely break your console. Most people (myself included) don’t care who sends them messages. I don’t have many friends, after all, but now it’s something to really think about when you see a notification about a new message.
As said by Huntstark, a user who ran into this issue, they were playing Rainbow Six: Siege when a player on the opposing team reportedly used a dummy account to send a console-breaking message. Every team member on Huntstark’s side except for one was affected by the malicious message. This, however, wasn’t the only Reddit user reporting the problem.
This glitch could also affect how long competitive games will be played by users who have neglected to change their privacy settings. With Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 having just released, this problem should be important to fix on PlayStation’s side. No one is going to want to get on the bad side of anyone, so why would they play against someone who could be a sore loser and exploit this malicious tactic?
Warning to all PS gamers: change your PSN messaging settings or be ready to possibly buy a new console.
UPDATE: Sony is aware of the issue and while being a bit slow about it are planning on fixing the issue with a new update. In the meantime there is a fix if you or anyone you know has been affected that does not include factory resetting your console. Check out the tweet below.
Hey @AskPS_UK do you know anything about this message that resets the PS4 to factory setting ?https://t.co/qWh2O5mUP1
— Zenibuka (@zenibuka) October 15, 2018
I just put mine to private.
Good.
I’m not questioning your reporting, i repeat i am not questioning your reporting, but i just find this hard to believe. At the same time i normally only look at or respond to people who are already on my friends list. So if i disappear for awhile you’ll know why and can say told you so when i find my way back 🙂
It’s likely not actually going to happen to an average person. But, it’s better safe than sorry, in my opinion.
Exactly.
Other outlets are reporting the same piece of news. I don’t know of anybody personally that was affected by this, though I also never knew anybody that was affected by the iPhone iOS exploit that crashed phones with a text message. I imagine the PSN exploit is a very similar thing to the old iOS exploit.
Either way, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Edit: here’s Engadget covering it.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/14/ps4-malicious-messsage-crash/
I guess my issue stems from the sources themselves “the users”. I have troubles accepting user claims because most users are unaware of what the real causes or issues might be. Now if Sony steps up and confirms these experiences then i’d accept it, till then this just feels like a scare tactic, albeit not by use or Engadget but by the Reddit users themselves.
I was skeptical myself and when passing the info along to friends I’d lead with ‘Not sure if this is true or not but…’ But Sony have finally acknowledged it and are investigating, though they were slow out the gate. I personally changed my privacy settings just to err on the side of caution.
Turns out i was right & wrong. The issue did exist however the users were wrong! It did not brick the consoles nor did it require a factory reset, you simply needed to delete the message and rebuild your database. So yeah thanks Reddit for the overhyped scare tactic. And Sony has already fixed it(according to the EU blog) so no need to go into bunker mode which other system owners want you to do.