PlayStation Network to stay offline until late May

PlayStation Network logo. Offline for 6 weeks, online restarts May 31, 2011 following hack attack
The PlayStation Network will fully come back online on May 31, 2011 Sony has confirmed, nearly three weeks after they officially pulled the plug on all PSN and Qriacity services following the hack attack (hey, that rhymes!).

This comes following the fact that Sony missed their initial target of April 27th, but continues to aggressively work towards improving the service and adding new security features.

With the service officially coming online on May 31st, assuming that they make the date, the PSN will have been offline for a full six weeks total. Ouch. The first service to be resumed soon will be online play, however. With other services following.

The PSN originally went offline on April 20th after their service was hacked and 77 million personal data and account details were stolen. Days following, Sony began to slowly give details on what exactly happened, and eventually offered PSN account members a full year’s worth of Identity Theft protection and other free offers to make up for the debacle.

Currently Sony is investigating the attack with an outside firm, along with help from Homeland Security and the FBI, and they have been tapped themselves by everyone from US Senators to the US Congress, where they admitted that data had indeed been stolen from over 70 million users, including possibly Credit Card numbers and other personal info.

How much damage this has done to the company and to the brand as a whole is still yet to be determined, although Capcom has stated that it may have cost them millions.

How much damage do you think this has caused Sony? Will you ever trust them again? Will you buy from the PlayStation Network again once it launches?