The Sony PlayStation Network was difficult to access for at least one day this week. It was likely caused by a hacker.
Sony’s “AskPlayStation” Twitter page reported that “PSN currently undergoing sporadic maintenance. Access to the PSN may be interrupted throughout the day.”
They apologized “for any inconvenience.”
The message was retweeted by over a 100 people.
“Supposedly the problem stems from an attack by a hacker group, but Sony hasn’t confirmed anything in that regard,” ZDNet reported earlier in the week.
Playing DVDs, Blu-ray discs and games on discs did not create problems for PS3 users, ZDNet said. But there may have been slight challenges to access online games or Netflix.
In a recent blog post from The Washington Post, it was reported that Anonymous, a loosely organized hackers group, reported it targeted and took down Sony.com and the PlayStation Store website.
“The group announced it would attack Sony in solidarity with the PlayStation hackers George ‘geohot’ Hotz and Alexander ‘graf_chokolo’ Egorenkov, both of whom have been sued for publishing hacks for the PlayStation 3,” The Washington Post reported.
Anonymous said a legal action against Hotz and Egorenkov “has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable,” according to The Washington Post blog.
“The letter also accuses Sony of abusing the judicial system and victimizing its own customers,” The Washington Post added.
TechZone360 reports that Anonymous wrote about Sony:
“You have abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information about how your products work. You have victimized your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information, and continue to target those who seek this information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands of innocent people who only sought the free distribution of information.”
Earlier this year, just a short time after Egyptian officials restored Internet service in the middle of civil unrest – that led to the fall of the government – hackers targeted government websites causing them to go offline, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The attacks were apparently coordinated by "Anonymous," according to a report from TechZone360, which gives an idea how much of an impact Anonymous can have.
Ed Silverstein is a TechZone360 contributor. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Janice McDuffee