WASHINGTON,
Dec 27 (AFP) - Microsoft's online network for its Xbox gaming console was
restored to nearly full service Friday after an allegedly coordinated Christmas
Day hack brought it and Sony's PlayStation network down.
The PlayStation network remained down,
while Xbox's service returned to all except three of its applications during
the day.
The disruption started Christmas Day,
PlayStation and Xbox said on their Twitter feeds, adding that they were working
to restore service.A message posted to the Xbox status page early Friday
upgraded service to "limited" -- a sign that support teams were making
inroads in fixing the problem.
And PlayStation asked its users for
patience."We are working to restore full network services for all
platforms -- thanks, as always, for your patience!" it said on TwitterA
new Twitter user going by the name "Lizard Squad" took credit for the
disruption, claiming it had the "nation on strings."
The name is the same used by a group of
hackers that has targeted Sony in the past, though it was not possible to
verify the Twitter account's authenticity.The account did not return requests for
comment and only became active Wednesday.
Sony was hit by a sophisticated hacking
attack this month that stole massive amounts of data from its serversThe US has
blamed North Korea for the attack, with the reclusive state seen as furious at
the release of Sony film "The Interview," which parodies leader Kim
Jong-Un.
After initially canceling the film's
December 25 release, Sony backtracked and brought it out to a small number of
US theaters.The film was also made available online -- including through the
Xbox console and, soon, the PlayStation.
On its @PlayStation Twitter account,
Sony said: "We're aware that some users are having issues logging into PSN
-- engineers are investigating."
A day after the difficulties began,
@AskPlayStation posted: "Our engineers are continuing to work hard to
resolve the network issues users have experienced today. Thanks for your
continued patience!"
Analysts said a direct connection with
the Sony Pictures attack was unlikely, and that the latest hack was probably
the work of fame-seeking amateurs.
"The timing suggests that this is
an attack that we can put in the category of adolescents who are looking for a
bit of glory," said Pierre Samson of the European Circle Security and
Information Systems.
"There is a very small probability
that there was a direct link with the attack on Sony Pictures, you can order an
attack to online services fairly easily with few resources."He said
thousands of similar hacks are launched daily, although they are not always
effective.- Gamers vent -Though a direct connection between "The
Interview" and the service disruptions could not be confirmed, some gamers
were convinced a link exists.
"I blame that darn movie 'The
Interview,'" wrote a user going by as2009man on a PlayStation community
forum message board."It's the gift that keeps on giving."Another
poster to the same forum said he was getting fed up with the game world's
vulnerability to repeated denial of service attacks.
"A DDos attack is like a semi
(truck) driver intentionally jackknifing his rig on a busy interstate and
shutting down traffic for a few hours," said a gamer writing under the
name shadoefax.Game users also took to Twitter to vent their frustration."After
this christmas, #lizardsquad is forever on the naughty list," one
frustrated gamer fumed.
A major cyber attack on PlayStation in
2011 saw personal details from 77 million customers stolen, preventing
customers from playing online and forcing Sony to disable the network for more
than three weeks.
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