112w ago -
Update:
IGN now reports that Sony stated the following regarding the Anonymous Hacker Group's actions, to quote:
"We are currently investigating, including the possibility of targeted behavior of an outside party. If this is indeed caused by such an act, we want to once again thank our customers who have borne the brunt of the attack through interrupted service. Our engineers are working to restore and maintain the services, and we appreciate our customers' continued support."
Shortly following,
PlayStationLifeStyle.net reported that Sony has enlisted a DDoS Defense Firm to combat the hackers.
Today Wired reports that an anonymous hacking group originating from the 4Chan board has has officially declared war on Sony for alleged abuse, victimisation and privacy violations in the legal action against a group of PS3 hackers.
Sony's Sr. Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media
Patrick Seybold has
confirmed that PSN has been experiencing intermittent service as well.
To quote: "In an image, posted to the website
AnonNews, a member of the group states, "Sony, you have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our fellow hackers, Geohot and Graf_Chokolo, has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable."
George "Geohot" Hotz and the German-born Alexander "graf_chokolo" Egorenkov are two of the hackers who dismantled the PlayStation 3's security architecture and made the information public. This data has made homebrew software, game piracy and cheating in online games a common occurrence on the console.
To fight back, Sony has entered a long and bitter legal campaign against the coders and their associates.
Since January 2011, Hotz has been entangled in a court case with Sony's American division. In February 2011, Sony Europe demanded German police raid Egorenkov's home and seize any equipment related to hacking the PS3. The Japanese gaming titan has also threatened to sue the cheeky coder for a whopping million euros.
Sony has also had varying degrees of success in demanding information from other sites and services in relation to the case. Paypal gave up all the information on Hotz's account and Sony was able to see the IP addresses of everyone who has visited the hacker's website.
The manifesto says that the forthcoming attacks will also be for reasons other than the legal actions against Hotz and Egorenkov. "Your corrupt business practices are indicative of a corporate philosophy that would deny consumers the right to use products they have paid for, and rightfully own, in the manner of their choosing," the poster reads.
"Perhaps you should alert your customers to the fact that they are apparently only renting your products?" it asks. "Anonymous would like to inform you that you have only been 'renting' your web domains."
Which, presumably, is a call to arms for DDoS attacks and other online villainy against Sony. The group, working under the name " Operation Payback" has used similar techniques to bring down websites for the MPAA and RIAA."
Finally, according to reports SonyRecon has formed to join in attacks on Sony and
Kilpatrick Townsend, the law firm representing Sony.
PS3 hacker
KaKaRoToKS has
tweeted the following on the situation: Just spoke with the guy from #SonyRecon, he assures me there is nothing like that, no attacks on people and no plans to, ONLY *recon*, gathering information that is already publicly available, in the hopes of finding something incriminating to help in the lawsuit. Anonymous is against violence or threatening/attacking people. He says nothing illegal is being done, and news sites are reporting the information wrong.
92 Comments - Go to Forum Thread »
oh they are so anonymous that they are having interview telling around oh we are anonymous oh we are gonna do this do that blah blah. yah so much for anonymous ,and since everyone already said how this smartasses are affecting other people (who never did it to them) by obviously being smartasses they need to at least think or i hope they did think about how their bs is gonna make everything worst and they want to use V for their symbol or whatever.
We will begin by stating that we are ceasing our DDoS attacks on Sony altogether, as we believe the impact of this particular type of attack has surpassed it's peak. Sony's poor attempt to explain the system outages by lying about the nature of them is laughable. Therefore, Anonymous is now choosing to pursue other ways of getting Sony's attention.
Secondly, it has recently come to our attention that George Hotz, also known as GeoHot, has reached a settlement with Sony regarding the court case involving those two parties. As further details are being withheld, we will refrain from speculating.
In the eyes of the law, this case is over. We disagree. We believe Sony's actions in this case are unjust. We do not agree with Sony forcing social media sites like Youtube to hand over the IP addresses of people who viewed GeoHots videos. We view this as a severe violation of privacy rights. We disagree with Sony forcefully gathering personal information from other companies like PayPal. We find it unacceptable that Sony is even permitted to request this information in the first place. These acts are completely disrespectful and unforgivable.
This is not about one man's lopsided battle against a huge corporation. The actions of Sony have far-reaching implications for every person who has purchased and therefore owns a piece of equipment, regardless of the manufacturer.
The current solution will only embolden other greedy corporations to employ similar unfair tactics, so it is necessary to continue our protest to make our voices heard. We invite you to do the same. Operation Sony, or OpSony for short, is simply the opening shot.
Where the judicial system has failed, Anonymous will persevere, by standing up for the rights of everyone, not just those who dared to challenge these corporations. Geohots' belief was in the freedom of information dissemination. We will stand with him.
On April 16th, we will take the protests against Sony to the streets. We encourage anyone who is able to come to a nearby Sony Store to support the cause, even if you are not usually involved with Anonymous. This is not just about Anonymous - this is about your rights.
If you wish to attend, be sure to check on your local laws and regulations regarding hiding your face during protests and, if allowed, cover your face, whether it is the usual Guy Fawkes masks or some other form of facial covering. Of course you can always wear a mask, even if it's prohibited by law - but be aware that this can pose a serious legal risk. You should also be aware of potential 'saboteurs', whether from police forces / corporate security, or Sony itself.
If needed, get into contact with others in your area that are going to protest (for example through IRC or the Facebook page), and make preparations before the actual protest takes place. Set up a 'legal team' that consists of at least 1 person that does not take part in the protest itself, who is in contact with a lawyer. Make sure the phone number of the 'legal team' is written on your arm with something like permanent marker, to make sure you cannot lose it in a full body search - better safe than sorry. It is also a good idea to make sure your 'legal team' stays in contact with other anons, to keep everyone updated about the running protests, as well as possible arrests.
For more important information on protests, you can refer to http://www.urban75.org/mayday02/legal.html (here you can also find important tips to keep yourself safe). While this document is aimed at the United Kingdom, the situation in other countries will often be similar, however, it is always a good idea to check your local laws and regulations. If you have any questions, you can always ask them in the IRC (chat) channel.
Let us show Sony that all information is free and that we own the things we buy, now and forever.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.