14 DAY TRIAL // According to the official Twitter support account for PlayStation UK, the PlayStation Network (PSN) message which was reportedly bricking PlayStation 4 consoles left and right is now fixed.
Moreover, Ask PlayStation UK also said in the tweet that the malicious message was not actually bricking any PS4 consoles but, instead, was sending them into an endless crash loop rendering them unusable.
For PS4 users who were or are still affected by the issue, the PlayStation support account also outlined a simple to follow guide on how to fix a compromised PS4 console which continuously crashes.
The procedure starts with removing the malicious message from the PlayStation Messaging mobile app and then with restarting the console.
Next, according to the "PS4 in Safe Mode" support page, "Once the PS4 system is off, press and hold the power button again. Release it after you hear the second beep: one beep will sound when you first press, and another seven seconds later."
Sony fixed the bug allowing maliciously crafted messages to send PS4 consoles into a crash loop and shared a detailed guide on how to fix affected consoles
Next, go to the "Rebuild Database" option which "Scans the drive and creates a new database of all content on the system. This operation may take a long time depending on the type and number of data items."
PlayStation's support website says that this option is the one to go to every time you need to clean up the data on your PS4 console as it is designed to reorganize everything you have stored on its hard drive.
Furthermore, rebuilding the console's database is the recommended when experiencing a wide variety of issues such as frame rate drops during gameplay and random game freezes.
When asked if the players who sent the "crash loop" messages will be perma-banned from PSN, Ask PlayStation UK said that it's up to the PSN moderation team.
Despite that, there's almost no chance the PS4 users who made other players' consoles unusable will be able to escape a permanent ban seeing that PlayStation Network's Community Code of Conduct forbids being "disruptive " and sending "spam messages" to other users.
We've since fixed the issue, and it wasn't bricking consoles, just sending them into a crash loop that can be quickly fixed in under 5 minutes. Delete the message on the PS mobile app, go into Safe Mode, use Option 5, console back to normal. ^DB — Ask PlayStation UK (@AskPS_UK) October 15, 2018
