Sony's PlayStation Network, Microsoft's Xbox Live Restored After Cyberattacks
Sony said its PlayStation Network was “back online” Sunday, after a multiday outage resulting from a Christmas Day distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the system. Hack activist group Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for the DDoS attack, which also downed Microsoft’s Xbox Live network. Sony Entertainment Vice President Catherine Jensen confirmed in a blog post that a DDoS attack caused the PlayStation Network outage, saying the network “and some other gaming services were attacked over the holidays with artificially high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity and online gameplay.”
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The FBI is investigating the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live cyberattacks and members of the Lizard Squad, a spokeswoman told us Monday. The Lizard Squad previously had taken credit for cyberattacks on the PlayStation Network earlier this month and in August. The FBI already had been investigating the earlier data breach at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which it has linked to North Korea (see 1412170050). The cybersecurity firm IntelCrawler has claimed that Lizard Squad may have connections to the Guardians of Peace hacking group that allegedly caused the Sony Pictures Entertainment data breach, but the FBI wouldn’t comment on whether there's a connection. President Barack Obama has called for cybersecurity information-sharing legislation in response to the Sony data breach, and the House Commerce Committee plans new cybersecurity hearings in the 114th Congress (see 1412190045).
Sony said it brought the PlayStation Network back online Saturday but cautioned users that there would continue to be “disruptions in service due to large surges in traffic.” Microsoft was able to restore service to Xbox Live by Friday and reported Monday that all of its services were “up and running.” A Sony spokeswoman declined to provide details on the extent to which the DDoS attack prevented the PlayStation Network’s approximately 56 million users from accessing the system.