Today's Facebook updated posted to a "Frequently Asked Questions" page that SoE has published in regards to the continued EverQuest outage.  However, they avoid answering the most frequently asked question of all... when will the servers be back.  To read the notice, visit this link:

http://www.soe.com/securityupdate/recentupdates.vm

However, the most informative update, received not from SoE themselves, but via the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The PlayStation network breach came from an attack on a data center in San Diego. Taina Rodriguez, a Sony Online Entertainment spokeswoman, declined to say if PlayStation and Sony Online Entertainment shared the same data center.  “Our servers are different from the PSN servers,” she said. “We are operated separately. But since we’re both under the Sony umbrella, there is a degree of architecture that overlaps.”  Rodriguez added that Sony Online Entertainment’s network would be shut down until Friday and possibly longer. The company has contacted the FBI to investigate the attack.

How considerate of SOE to publish this important tidbit to their customers direct, but rather, make us hunt down this information that they offer freely to the local newspaper.  Since there is no sign of the EQ Apocalypse ending anytime soon, I have decided to preemptively cancel raids for Wednesday, May 4th AND Thursday, May 5th.  Normal raiding will resume on Saturday, May 7th given that SoE gets their act together and gets the servers back up and running.

Once again, Please take the following precautions:

1.  NEVER EVER respond to an email or phone call, whether it looks/seems legitimate or not, asking for your personal information, identification, banking information or credit card information.  One of the biggest fears related to this breach of security is the potential for phishing scams.  Trust me, if your banking information or credit card info goes inactive on your EverQuest account, they will let you know by cancelling your subscription, at which point you can call into the Support Center to reinstate your service.  They will NEVER contact you for this information and if someone does, its almost certainly a scam.

2.  If you use your EQ/sony station username and password combination anywhere else, change those passwords immediately.

3.  Monitor your credit card statement or bank statement for unusual activity.  Despite what Sony claims, we have at least 3 members with reported charges... could be coincidence, maybe not, but either way, take responsibility for your credit cards, and CHECK THEM CAREFULLY.