- Some users still facing issues
- DDoS attack
- Attack by Lizard Squad
The online networks for Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox video game consoles are showing signs of recovery
The online networks for both the Playstation and the Xbox seem to be recovering slowly after they had been jammed up on Christmas day; thanks to a cyber attack which left the services as offline. Playstation has tweeted about its network getting back to normal gradually and the Xbox Live service status page also confirms that most of their services are running now. However, there still might be limited access to apps including IGN, Maxim and MLG.TV. Xbox’s support team has also said that some of their users are still facing problems.
The culprit behind this seems to be the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks which usually clog a network and make it inaccessible to the users. A group titled as the Lizard Squad took responsibility for the attack and this is not the first time this name has gotten itself some fame. Its history goes back to targeting the PlayStation Network along with some other video game services. Back in August this same group attacked PSN and some other developers including Blizzard (World of Warcraft) and Riot Games (League of Legends).
Update: PS4, PS3, and Vita network services are gradually coming back online – thanks for your patience— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) December 27, 2014
And it seems that not only video games are at a threat but the group has previously also been involved n creating trouble for American Airlines. Following the hack in August, the group sent out a tweet to American Airlines in which it claimed that plane carrying Sony Online Entertainment chief John Smedley had explosives on board. It was later confirmed by Smedley that his flight had been diverted from Dallas/Fort Worth to San Diego. The group has claimed that these little attacks started as harmless and ‘just for a good laugh’ but soon they turned into an effort in order to force companies like Microsoft and Sony to tighten their security.
We’re aware that some of you are still having trouble; our teams are on the case! Latest status info here: http://t.co/99xfLNN0o8 ^QZ— Xbox Support (1-5) (@XboxSupport) December 27, 2014