I heard it's from an update.
Wouldn't surprise me if they're testing to see if they can brick consoles on purpose, before the next gen kicks in, forcing people to trade up. Same principle as Apple purposely reducing the performance of older iPhones, to sell more new phones (Of course they'll claim they were simply extending battery life out of older hardware. Making an effort to allow users to refrain from replacing their phones makes perfect business sense.)
While the exact cause is unclear, many users in the Reddit thread have likened the exploit to previous messaging exploits such as this one from 2015 in which a unique string of characters could crash an iPhone. In describing the PS4 message, one player wrote that it was merely a question mark in a box, suggesting that the malicious messages cannot even be displayed by the PS4.
Originally posted by Smasandian
From what I heard it's not bricking it completely. I think you can reset the console. Annoying as **** but at least its not being bricked.Stilll... this is ****ed up.
supposedly the best way to get rid of the message is by logging into the PSN account online from a browser or some PS app.
Originally posted by Khazra Reborn
Heard about this, I'm not turning on my PS4 until Sony has an update that fixes it, I don't need the headache. I've been on a Gears of War kick for whatever reason the last few weeks, anyways.
All you have to do is Set your message preferences to "Friends Only" or "None at All"
not that hard to do.