The hacking collective known as Anonymous has successfully taken down Sony’s official PlayStation website in revenge for the company’s lawsuit against George Hotz. Earlier today, the coordinated assault knocked Sony.com and PlayStation.com offline, with more attacks promised to come.
The situation stems from Sony's recent court battle against George Hotz, a hacker who released an exploit to the public designed to ‘jailbreak’ PS3 consoles.
In the ensuing court case, Sony sought to collect information from PS3 customers who visited Hotz’s website. A federal magistrate reportedly gave Sony permission to collect IP addresses of people who had accessed Hotz's site or posted comments on a related YouTube video
Yesterday, the Anonymous collective released a statement that laid out their chief grievances against Sony and the consequences that the company would pay.
“Congratulations, Sony. You have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our fellow hackers has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable,” the statement read. “You have victimised your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands.”
The statement then descended into threats against Sony for its abuse of the judicial system.”Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous. You saw a hornets nest, and stuck your p*nises in it. You must face the consequences of your actions, Anonymous style....”
Since the statement was released, Sony.com and PlayStation.com were both knocked offline through a coordinated DDoS attack (at the time of writing, PlayStation.com is still returning a broken link).
Some users are also experiencing difficuties connecting to the PSN network. "Access to the PSN may be interrupted throughout the day. We apologize for any inconvenience," Sony's tech support explained in a tweet.
Anonymous also released a video on YouTube, which promises that the attacks will continue. It concludes; "we do not forgive the denial of free flow of information. Expect us."
You can see the full video below:
We'll keep you updated with any fresh developments as they happen.
The hacking collective known as Anonymous has successfully taken down Sony’s official PlayStation website in revenge for the company’s conduct during the lawsuit against George Hotz. Earlier today, the coordinated assault knocked Sony.com and PlayStation.com offline, with more attacks promised to come.
Yesterday, the Anonymous collective released a statement that laid out their chief grievances against Sony and the consequences that the company would pay.
“Congratulations, Sony. You now have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our follow hackers has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable,” the statement read. “You have victimised your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands.”
The statement then descended into threats against Sony for its abuses of the judicial system.”Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous. You saw a hornets nest, and stuck your p*nises in it. You must face the consequences of your actions, Anonymous style.... We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not Forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”
Since the statement was released, Sony.com and PlayStation.com were both knocked offline (at the time of writing, PlayStaton.com is still returning a broken link).
For those who haven’t been keeping abreast of the news, Sony has recently been embroiled in a court battle against George Hotz
The hacking collective known as Anonymous has successfully taken down Sony’s official PlayStation website in revenge for the company’s conduct during the lawsuit against George Hotz. Earlier today, the coordinated assault knocked Sony.com and PlayStation.com offline, with more attacks promised to come.
Yesterday, the Anonymous collective released a statement that laid out their chief grievances against Sony and the consequences that the company would pay.
“Congratulations, Sony. You now have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our follow hackers has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable,” the statement read. “You have victimised your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands.”
The statement then descended into threats against Sony for its abuses of the judicial system.”Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous. You saw a hornets nest, and stuck your p*nises in it. You must face the consequences of your actions, Anonymous style.... We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not Forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”
Since the statement was released, Sony.com and PlayStation.com were both knocked offline (at the time of writing, PlayStaton.com is still returning a broken link).
For those who haven’t been keeping abreast of the news, Sony has recently been embroiled in a court battle against George Hotz, a hacker who released an exploit to the public designed to ‘jailbreak’ PS3 consoles.
In the ensuring court case, Sony sought to collect information from PS3 customers who visited Hotz’s website. The court reportedly gave Sony permission to collect everything from IP addresses of those who visited the site in question, to those who watched or posted comments on a YouTube video
, a hacker who released an exploit to the public designed to ‘jailbreak’ PS3 consoles.
In the ensuring court case, Sony sought to collect information from PS3 customers who visited Hotz’s website. The court reportedly gave Sony permission to collect everything from IP addresses of those who visited the site in question, to those who watched or posted comments on a YouTube video
