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[Katori]

One of my computers got a virus. Yes, this is my fault. I know this. But it's kind of a bummer for me already. I probably will have to reinstall Windows, which can take a long time to reconfigure and this computer is in active use by my business.

But the real issue here has nothing to do with that. The real issue here is with Sony. One of Sony's horrible algorithms decided that since my computer has a virus, it should ban my IP address from accessing PSN. This includes accessing the thousands of dollars worth of games that I've bought over the past 10 years. I called Sony to rectify this issue, and apparently they ban 100 IP addresses at a time. So it might not even have been me that triggered this. They also can do nothing about it.

Their recommendation was to call my Internet provider (Comcast) and have them change my IP address.

I did that, and after 4(!) phone calls it turns out that my only option is to turn off my router for 4 days (I work from home, so nope) or buy a static IP address for $20/mo. They have no way of changing my dynamic IP or renewing/cancelling my IP lease from their end. And this by the way is not Xfinity, this is Comcast BUSINESS. I pay a premium, for this?

But this is not about Comcast, this is about Sony. They're holding my games and the online service I PAY FOR for ransom. And if I had modded or cheated I would completely understand. But I didn't do anything like that. I just work with a lot of different computers, and one of them ended up with a virus. Why would Sony think this is a good policy? The PS4 can't get a virus. PSN can't get a virus (at least not via my computer). I can't even access the PSN web store from this connection. Why?

Ok, that's my rant. Feel free to tell stories about terrible Sony customer support (this is not the only PSN issue I've had, I remember buying PvZ Garden Warfare when I first got my PS4 after downloading about 15 games and being told to reformat my PS4 and redownload all my games because of a license issue).

 

[Toki767]

I've never heard of this happening before.

How would they know you got a virus?

 

[Chesskid1]

i think if you change routers they'll give you a new IP, not sure though, i just remember having different IPs after i changed routers (i bought my own).

 

[WickedLaharl]

Normally nothing surprises me when it comes to PSN but I have never heard of this and don't know how it would even be possible.

 

[Katori]

I've never heard of this happening before.

How would they know you got a virus?

I don't know, presumably it's a botnet and is reaching out to other computers. OR it's absolutely nothing and Sony just randomly banned my IP. Either way, bad business practice for people that constantly give you money.

i think if you change routers they'll give you a new IP, not sure though, i just remember having different IPs after i changed routers (i bought my own).

I'm considering this, but it's a lot of money to invest for not knowing if it will actually work. It's a lot of money to invest, period. Sony should not be doing this to me.

 

[TheSpoiler]

How is that possible? Have you tried logging in on other computers with different IPs? This doesn't make a lick of sense.

Edit: Okay, wait, you have a dynamic IP. You don't have to turn your router off for 4 days. You can do it for like five minute sand it should reset to a new one.

https://www.lifewire.com/change-your-ip-address-818150

 

[Rookhelm]

Try logging into PSN from your phone (not connected to Wi-Fi), and make sure it's not your account itself that is locked.

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

So let me get this straight


You got a virus from sketchy ass internet activity

Virus than uses your PC as a botnet

Ip gets banned

And some how this is sonys fault ?

 

[LFMartins86]

I don't know, presumably it's a botnet and is reaching out to other computers. OR it's absolutely nothing and Sony just randomly banned my IP. Either way, bad business practice for people that constantly give you money.



I'm considering this, but it's a lot of money to invest for not knowing if it will actually work. It's a lot of money to invest, period. Sony should not be doing this to me.

It's not random. Your IP had probably been involved in DDOS attack, either due to some malware you had on your PC or either the user who had that IP before you.
It's horribly annoying but it's not random. It does go away when you get a different IP.
And it's not Sony who does this but the company who provides them protection, can't remember their name.

 

[Hjod]

Never heard of someone getting banned for having a virus on their computer, sounds strange. But there have been a lot of threads here on the topic of how shit the PSN support is.

Luckily they helped me really fast when I had some problems with my account, I guess the Swedish wing of PSN-support is better.

I feel for you, that they can hold your account hostage is bullshit.

 

[JP]

You'll have been blacklisted by a third-party, you can check online to see which third-party has done this and only they will be able to remove it from the blacklist. It's pretty easy to do according to other people on here.

 

[Gxgear]

I feel like we're not getting the full picture here.

 

[Peroroncino]

It's not random. Your IP had probably been involved in DDOS attack, either due to some malware you had on your PC or either the user who had that IP before you.
It's horribly annoying but it's not random. It does go away when you get a different IP.
And it's not Sony who does this but the company who provides them protection, can't remember their name.

Exactly how it works, both cause and effect, one of my friends deals with this almost everyday, since they ban his IP for undisclosed amount of time.

 

[warheat]

One of Sony's horrible algorithms decided that since my computer has a virus

OP you have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[Kilau]

What "ransom" is Sony demanding exactly?

 

[Katori]

How is that possible? Have you tried logging in on other computers with different IPs? This doesn't make a lick of sense.

Edit: Okay, wait, you have a dynamic IP. You don't have to turn your router off for 4 days. You can do it for like five minute sand it should reset to a new one.

https://www.lifewire.com/change-your-ip-address-818150

I'll be happy to try it (hell, I'll turn it off for an hour) but the DHCP lease in the router config specifically said 4 days.

To those claiming "sketchy ass Internet activity" or that this is somehow my fault, nope. I have multiple computers with lots of files--some very old ones, including ones sent to me by clients. I could have gotten a virus from anywhere.

 

[otakukidd]

I'll be happy to try it (hell, I'll turn it off for an hour) but the DHCP lease in the router config specifically said 4 days.

To those claiming "sketchy ass Internet activity" or that this is somehow my fault, nope. I have multiple computers with lots of files--some very old ones, including ones sent to me by clients. I could have gotten a virus from anywhere.

It might not even be a virus on anything you own. You probably picked up a IP that was already banned since you have a dynamic ip. Reset your modem for about 10 minutes and it should pick up a new one.

 

[singo]

I'll be happy to try it (hell, I'll turn it off for an hour) but the DHCP lease in the router config specifically said 4 days.

To those claiming "sketchy ass Internet activity" or that this is somehow my fault, nope. I have multiple computers with lots of files--some very old ones, including ones sent to me by clients. I could have gotten a virus from anywhere.

DHCP lease time on your router does not matter in this case. The lease time from your ISP will be separate (and likely shorter). I have seen these be anything from 15 minutes to 4 hours.

Keep in mind that some companies give you your IP based off identifiers provided by your router (or modem, whatever your first device is), so if your old IP is available, you might still get back it even if it was released.

 

[Thebeardofknowledge]

You can generate a new ip yourself if you know how to change your MAC address

 

[nkarafo]

Wait, you can't even play the games you bought? Not even the single player ones?

 

[TheSpoiler]

It might not even be a virus on anything you own. You probably picked up a IP that was already banned since you have a dynamic ip. Reset your modem for about 10 minutes and it should pick up a new one.

This. Ezbreezy fix

 

[Katori]

I used a "find if my IP was blacklisted" tool to search different databases and found it was blacklisted by SORBS. Made a SORBS account and found that the listing was "immutable", which means that even they cannot change it.

It is also listed as happening in Nov 2015, before I moved into this house or paid for Comcast service. So I probably had another IP before and it was renewed to this one which is blacklisted.

I'm going to turn off my router for an hour and see if there is any change, but I have to say, I'm a little disappointed at the witch hunt here. I already admitted some fault in this issue upfront, but Sony support is really not supporting me here (and, to be honest with you, never has any of the 3-5 times I've called them) and not being very consumer friendly.

 

[Alucrid]

this seems like an issue for your isp not sony

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Try tethering your phone.

 

[singo]

Call your ISP and tell them it is blacklisted. Even if they cant do anything there they should be able to report it to the next line of support.

 

[Gurnlei]

Your ISP should be able to do something about this if you tell them the situation.

 

[Chris_Rivera]

When did you move in or find out if this ban? The previous resident also used a Comcast business link? SORBS is a blacklist for email spammers, etc. Work with Comcast, as they would be the only ones to provide a different IP address.

Like someone said, try a custom MAC address on the router or a different router. But it could be a pool of blacklisted IP's, so I'd badger Comcast support.

 

[OdysseusVA]

This sounds sketch

What arent you telling us, OP

 

[Iorv3th]

I used a "find if my IP was blacklisted" tool to search different databases and found it was blacklisted by SORBS. Made a SORBS account and found that the listing was "immutable", which means that even they cannot change it.

It is also listed as happening in Nov 2015, before I moved into this house or paid for Comcast service. So I probably had another IP before and it was renewed to this one which is blacklisted.

I'm going to turn off my router for an hour and see if there is any change, but I have to say, I'm a little disappointed at the witch hunt here. I already admitted some fault in this issue upfront, but Sony support is really not supporting me here (and, to be honest with you, never has any of the 3-5 times I've called them) and not being very consumer friendly.

It's not sony's problem. It's your ISP problem. Your going to not be able to access several other sites not just PSN. If your IP is blacklisted you need to get a new IP address or have comcast try and remove it from the blacklist.

Get rid of comcast if you can. though.

 

[Katori]

When did you move in or find out if this ban? The previous resident also used a Comcast business link? SORBS is a blacklist for email spammers, etc. Work with Comcast, as they would be the only ones to provide a different IP address.

Like someone said, try a custom MAC address on the router or a different router. But it could be a pool of blacklisted IP's, so I'd badger Comcast support.

I found out about this ban yesterday and I've lived here for a year almost exactly. Played Overwatch PS4 with no issues (besides the eternally slow matchmaking) on Sunday.

Router is still off, I'll give an update when I plug it back in.

 

[Cornbread78]

I'm uhh, WTF happened again? Something is messed up here...

 

[Karsticles]

I think these kinds of horrendous resolutions to customer support issues are universal across technologically-oriented companies. Everything is so automated that no one knows what to do when the automation fails.

 

[Joco]

I'll be happy to try it (hell, I'll turn it off for an hour) but the DHCP lease in the router config specifically said 4 days.

To those claiming "sketchy ass Internet activity" or that this is somehow my fault, nope. I have multiple computers with lots of files--some very old ones, including ones sent to me by clients. I could have gotten a virus from anywhere.

Um, what? First line of the OP

One of my computers got a virus. Yes, this is my fault.

 

[Geedorah]

i think if you change routers they'll give you a new IP, not sure though, i just remember having different IPs after i changed routers (i bought my own).

Modem? I think you mean modem.

 

[Katori]

Plugged the router back in. It was off for about 3 hours. Same IP address. I'll try changing the MAC address, and if that doesn't work, I'll leave it off overnight tonight I guess.

Bottom line is, Sony should not be using this kind of service, or should have the power to whitelist IPs on their end.

Also, I think we can ignore the virus thing, which means this is 100% not my doing. After reading some posts here and some time away from the issue, it makes far more sense that this IP was used for a DDOS in the past. Still, Sony should have built their system in a way that allows them to whitelist IPs. And Comcast should also be able to cancel my lease remotely and assign me a new dynamic IP. I think we can find lots of fault with the way both companies are dealing with this issue.

EDIT: Comcast Business' rental router (same as the Xfinity one) does not appear to expose the MAC address for changing in the preferences. So I'm SOL for now.

EDIT2: Just called Comcast again and told them where I was blacklisted and asked for them to help remove me or otherwise solve the issue. They said they "escalated it to level 2" and will get back within 48hrs. More pleasant call than last time, I suppose.

 

[MageBoySA]

Plugged the router back in. It was off for about 3 hours. Same IP address. I'll try changing the MAC address, and if that doesn't work, I'll leave it off overnight tonight I guess.

Bottom line is, Sony should not be using this kind of service, or should have the power to whitelist IPs on their end.

Also, I think we can ignore the virus thing, which means this is 100% not my doing. After reading some posts here and some time away from the issue, it makes far more sense that this IP was used for a DDOS in the past. Still, Sony should have built their system in a way that allows them to whitelist IPs. And Comcast should also be able to cancel my lease remotely and assign me a new dynamic IP. I think we can find lots of fault with the way both companies are dealing with this issue.

EDIT: Comcast Business' rental router (same as the Xfinity one) does not appear to expose the MAC address for changing in the preferences. So I'm SOL for now.

EDIT2: Just called Comcast again and told them where I was blacklisted and asked for them to help remove me or otherwise solve the issue. They said they "escalated it to level 2" and will get back within 48hrs. More pleasant call than last time, I suppose.

Someone committed some kind of crime using the IP address you were assigned. The IP address was blacklisted by a major third party. This has nothing to do with Sony. Comcast has to have that IP address removed from the blacklist, or no longer give out that IP address. You should spend more time ranting at Comcast, because it probably isn't only PSN you will be blocked from of you look around the internet.