Over the weekend, PlayStation 4 users reported receiving messages on their consoles that would brick their system.
The text message exploit, like viruses sent over email or social media, corrupts the system when opened. A PS4 owner posted on Reddit claiming a dummy account sent a message to everyone on their Rainbow Six: Siege team. All participants were affected, except one member who had messages set to private. Everyone hit with the exploit had to factory reset their PS4s.
If you're concerned about the exploit, follow these instructions:
- Manage message and messaging preferences using a web browser or the PlayStation app on iOS and Android.
- If you want to use the console itself, go to Settings > Account Management > Privacy Settings.
- Set Personal Info and Messages to "friends only" or "no one"
The Ask PS4 U.K. account on Twitter also suggested these steps for deleting the possible message from the console.
Hello! We are aware and investigating, but it doesn't reset your console to factory settings. All you need to do is delete the message via the PS messaging app, and use Option 5 in Safe Mode to sort your console out. Instructions: https://t.co/vecpA6wnaQ ^DB
— Ask PlayStation UK (@AskPS_UK) October 15, 2018
PlayStation has yet to officially acknowledge the hack. Newsweek has reached out for comment and will update as necessary. You can head over to the official site for more tips on how to keep your PS4 safe, here.
Have you encountered this new exploit on PS4? If you have what have you done to fix it? Let us know in the comments section below.
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