Short answers, pulled from the story.
PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service from Sony Interactive Entertainment, launched in November 2006 for PlayStation consoles and later extended to smartphones, tablets, Blu-ray players and high-definition televisions. It provides the account system behind PlayStation Store, PlayStation Plus, and Sony's other digital services.
The security intrusion began on the 20th of April 2011 and knocked PlayStation Network offline for 23 days, affecting 77 million registered accounts. Sony responded with a Welcome Back program offering free games and extra PlayStation Plus days to subscribers.
PlayStation Network is available in 73 countries and territories, reaching everywhere except North Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Vietnam. Sony suspended service in Russia on the 9th of March 2022 in response to that year's invasion of Ukraine.
PlayStation Network awards bronze, silver and gold trophies based on difficulty, and a platinum trophy for unlocking every other trophy in a base game. Each trophy also carries a rarity grade of common, rare, very rare or ultra rare, based on the share of players who have earned it.
The C-bomb is a PlayStation Network requirement that consoles maintain an accurate time and date before certain games will start, which critics called a form of always-on DRM. Sony resolved the issue for the PlayStation 4 in September 2021 with firmware update 9.0.0, and for the PlayStation 5 that November.
Sony began requiring a free PlayStation Network account for some Windows ports of its games, including Helldivers 2 in 2024, God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. In January 2025, Sony made the requirement optional across its Windows ports after criticism that limited PSN availability made some games unplayable.