Several PS4 owners revealed receiving PSN messages with an unrecognized character effectively bricking the consoles.
This makes the consoles crash and leaves them unable to start properly. It also deletes the rogue messages and this usually happens when they leave the conversation in the PS Messages mobile app. As if this is not already enough, one has to rebuild the database in Safe Mode or the factory reset system. It is safe to say malicious messages crashes does not just happen on smartphones but now on PS4.
According to Engadget, one can only eliminate the chance to be interrupted by malicious messages by going into the settings and visit the account management and change the privacy settings. With this, one can limit the messages to friends only or for ultimate assurance, switched it off. A PS4 owner can do this in either the PS Messages app or at the console itself.
The earlier mentioned source reached out to Sony for comment and the prominent company may potentially address this through the software update. Also, it is likely easy for the PS4 owners to protect their selves in the meantime. Still, there is a lesser chance that consequences will be quite serious.
Moreover, the majority of the phone oriented bugs are troublesome but will not necessarily stop you from using other device applications. It is unfortunate that a prankster has rendered the PS4 effectively inoperable until you have walked through some painstaking troubleshooting steps.
Fortune reported how some users discussed the issue on Reddit board r/PS4. Meanwhile, the attack was compared to other text exploits on mobile platforms. It can be recalled how mobile users also receive messages with a set of characters that can shut down the device. During the PS4's case, a user said they only receive messages that have a question mark in a box.
PlayStation and Sony have not officially confirmed the said attack. We are yet to update this report once official responses are confirmed. In other news, 2019 is said to be a great year for PS4 owners as Sony is looking to make huge changes to how PSN username works. However, this is an option a person has to do before the ID change is completed.
Sony said, "If for any reason you experience issues after changing your ID, you can revert back to your original ID for free at any time (you will only be able to revert once during the preview program). Reverting back to an old ID will resolve most issues caused by the ID change."
