Sony Targeted For Another Attack This Weekend
Sony has been a major target of hackers ever since it's ill-fated lawsuit against George "Geohot" Hotz. The PlayStation Network attack has drawn attention from the FBI, the Department of Justice, Congress, and the New York State Attorney General. Sony responded via letter to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade on Wednesday, defending their response to the PSN attack. Now, it appears that Sony is a target once again. A group of hackers is apparently planning a major attack against Sony's website this weekend.
An observer of the Internet Relay Chat channel used by the hackers in question reported to CNET that a third major attack is planned this weekend, this time against Sony's website. The plan is to publicize all or some of the information they are able to copy from Sony's servers. The information could include customer names, credit card numbers, and addresses, the source said. The hackers say they already have access to some of Sony's servers. This seems to be the same group that successfully brought down PSN/Qriocity two weeks ago.
The hacker group Anonymous has been suspected, however, despite targeting Sony with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, Anonymous has vehemently denied being involved in the PSN breach. There was a file planted on Sony's servers named "Anonymous" and containing the statement "We are Legion", which is part of the group's tagline. However, Anonymous issued a statement yesterday that it does not condone that type of attack: "While we are a distributed and decentralized group, our 'leadership' does not condone credit card theft." Sony has issued free identity theft protection to its PSN customers in the US, and is planning to do so in Europe as well.
It remains to be seen if the identity of the hacker group will be uncovered. Sony said in its statement to the House of Representatives that the attack was "very carefully planned, very professional, (and) highly sophisticated," and that the attackers have "attempted to destroy the evidence that would reveal their steps." One thing is sure, Sony (and its customers) had better hunker down. It doesn't look like they are going to be out of the woods anytime soon.
[via CNET]