Hackers attack PlayStation Network to continue Sony’s cyber miseries

The Sony Company’s cyber miseries seem to be prolonged when a suspected attack by the hackers made PlayStation store inaccessible to its users. On Sunday, PlayStation had made a tweet saying it was addressing the issue faced by a few PlayStation Network users. On Monday, through a tweet, it also asked the users to try signing in to the PlayStation Network again.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment, the problem prolonged for 2 hours and it has been resolved globally. It also said that the cause is being investigated however; no sign of anything being stolen could be identified by the company. Lizard Squad named hacking group took the responsibility of this attack by making a tweet ‘PSN Login #offline’. This attack is the latest twist for the Sony Pictures hacking controversy. The studio employees were threatened by a group of hackers representing Guardians of Peace. A GOP attack on November 24th was observed after a series of threatening emails. North Korea was suspected for the GOP attack, as they were outraged by the depiction of Kim Jong-Un in the upcoming Sony Pictures movie ‘The Interview’. However, Pyongyang has denied North Korea’s involvement.

Miseries of Sony Pictures continued as a website GitHub had a post by GOP warning Sony Pictures and also publishing a few links to several series of files. However, Roger Kay, President of a Mass based research firm (Wayland) said there is no link between the two attacks. He believed that the first attack might have made room for other hackers. He strongly believed that the released information might have been used by other hackers to break into the company again. Confidential in formations like the spreadsheet showing the top Sony Pictures executive salaries were also shared on the site on Monday. Reports screening copies of more than 5 Sony Pictures movies were available for free download following the attack.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the hackers have extracted Social Security Numbers in excess to 47,000 from the former and current employees of the Sony Pictures. This includes Social Security Numbers of various celebrities like Judd Apatow, Sylvester Stallone, etc.

Sony has experienced cyber attacks previously also. The Lizard Squad earlier had warned about explosives on a flight carrying a Sony Pictures employee along with other passengers. This led to diversion of the domestic United States flight to the nearby airport. Disturbance in the PlayStation Network was also caused by the Lizard Squad as mentioned earlier. 2011 saw an attack on Online Entertainment Division and the PlayStation Network, which was described criminal and sophisticated by the Sony Pictures.

About PlayStation:

PlayStation is a series of video game consoles created and developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The brand was first introduced on December 3, 1994 in Japan with the launch of the original PlayStation console. It now consists of four home consoles, as well as a media center, an online service, a line of controllers, two handhelds and a phone, as well as multiple magazines. Read more on Wikipedia.

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