PS4 owners have had their consoles completely disabled just from opening a single PlayStation Network message. Players who have been hit report receiving a message from a user they didn’t recognize, opening it, and the console immediately deactivating without any means of reviving it. The message contains a special string of characters that, when parsed by a PS4, causes immediate shutdown.
Unofficial channels like Reddit have been tracking the message and its senders. One user explained that an entire team of players they belonged to was hit with the message, save for one user who had their message settings set to private. Screenshots of the message include an odd character that resembles a question mark inside of a square, which is assumed to be the character that the PS4 can’t parse. Users of the PS4 subreddit have warned other users to switch their message settings to private until this blows over, or, if that is not an option, to only check PSN messages from an external medium like a computer or phone.
Sony is aware of the message and is currently working on a firmware patch. In the meantime, they have echoed the subreddit’s sentiments about message safety.
