Anonymous on PSN Outage: "For Once We Didn't Do It"

[John Funk]

Anonymous on PSN Outage: "For Once We Didn't Do It"

Online "hacktivist" group Anonymous has denied any coordinated involvement in the collapse of the PlayStation Network.

Yesterday - or slightly before yesterday, to be precise - Sony's PlayStation Network for a day or more [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109448-PSN-Down-Worldwide-Is-Anonymous-to-Blame], and Sony EU PSN manager James Gallagher suggested that an attack by outsiders - such as the shadowy loose internet coalition Anonymous.

While this wouldn't be the first time Anonymous had gone after Sony [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109056-Anonymous-Halts-Sony-Attacks-Affecting-PSN-Users] for its involvement in the trials of George "GeoHot" Hotz and other PS3 jailbreakers, this time it says Sony is pointing the fingers in the wrong direction.

"While it could be the case that other Anons are acting by themselves," reads a statement [http://anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=848] on the Anonymous news site, "AnonOps was not related to this incident and does not take responsibility for whatever has happened."

An alternate possibility, suggests the statement, is that Sony is using Anonymous' previous attacks as a scapegoat "to distract users from the fact that the outage is actually an internal problem with the company's servers."

However, this would seem to contradict a post on the Anonymous Facebook page [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anonymous/128798377161188?sk=wall&filter=2], which reads: "Take a break from online gaming for a while ... it will help your skills, your health, and your emotional levels, which by the way are a bit out of order if they are being shackled by the PSN being down. We have no qualms about our actions, even though it may affect fellow anonymous or supporters ... we hope they understand the bigger picture."

Of course, another explanation is that both statements could be correct. The problem with (and some would argue, greatest strength of) Anonymous is that it is not a singular entity, but a loosely affiliated group of hundreds and thousands of others all behind a veil of anonymity. While the coordinated AnonOps branch may have nothing to do with this, other Anons may have decided to act on their own - though one would think it would have to be a powerful attack indeed to cripple PSN this badly.

Or it could just be that the hamsters powering the Sony servers all died. There's that, too.

(Thanks to tghm1801 for the tip!)

(Mashable [http://mashable.com/2011/04/22/psn-down/])

Permalink

 

[Krakyn]

The group that's calling themselves AnonOps are the splinter. Anon has no formal organization or goals. I'm really sick of "Anon" putting out statements saying they didn't do stuff. It's ridiculous.

 

[gigastar]

So it could be a splinter group responsible.

Though im still mostly for Sony screwing themselves somehow.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It's somebodys fault! I'm not beating Portal 2 offline. I need my simultaneous Steam achievements. I'd play my PC copy, but I need my trophies, too. Back to Majin, then.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Or it could just be that the hamsters powering the Sony servers all died. There's that, too.

This group of hackers has never given us reason NOT to take their word for it.
And I'm actually not being sarcastic.

On the other hand, Sony has given us plenty reason to think that they can't keep their shit together. That leap year fiasco (finally looked it up) WAS only a year ago. I guess we're due for their next great screwup.

 

[koops128]

Except for the other time they didn't do it with the WBC

 

[Vrach]

Tbh agreed that it looks like Sony just jumping on the opportunity to blame someone else for their own failure. As you've said yourself Funk, you'd need something pretty nasty to take down the entire bloody network, even more so for it to take entire days to fix. Without coordination, I doubt that's the case and if it is, that kinda just makes things worse for Sony as it shows how utterly incompetent they are to have an individual/minor group capable of doing that much damage to them.

 

[therandombear]

So it could be a splinter group responsible.

Probably a rogue cell >.>

OT: Well they did say they didn't want to ruin things for customers just to get back at sony...so they might be telling truth...or just lying through their teeth...both could be true.

 

[ace_of_something]

I'm guessing it's just some internal problem. There hasn't been a firmware update in a while though... so who knows?
Either way i'm not to worried it's not like i'm wasting money by not having PSN.

 

[Bobzer77]

The group that's calling themselves AnonOps are the splinter. Anon has no formal organization or goals. I'm really sick of "Anon" putting out statements saying they didn't do stuff. It's ridiculous.

Rules 1 and 2 baby.

I miss the good old days.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Or it could just be that the hamsters powering the Sony servers all died. There's that, too.

I'm going with this. Anon news is getting so old now, give the hamsters their credit already!

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

At least Al-Qaedi has rudimentary control over IT'S Agents, even if that is through spiritual manipulation.... Still something.

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Sony never actually said it was anon, they said it could possibly be a third party. People aren't reading things properly it seems...

 

[RejjeN]

It's somebodys fault! I'm not beating Portal 2 offline. I need my simultaneous Steam achievements. I'd play my PC copy, but I need my trophies, too. Back to Majin, then.

So games are only worth playing for imaginary points nowadays? I'm saddened...

 

[The Lost Big Boss]

So it could be a splinter group responsible.

Probably a rogue cell >.>

Dare I say, a SPLINTER CELL?? /troll face

OT: Its most likely a rogue cell of Anon. Think about it, now that the lawsuit is over, there is no risk of hurting GeoHot's image with attacks.

This sounds like a good movie... Anon and Sony teaming up to take down the cell.

 

[kajinking]

Sony never actually said it was anon, they said it could possibly be a third party. People aren't reading things properly it seems...

Exactly! I don't think Sony would even WANT to pin it anon since the idea that a small group could bring down their entire network is a lot scarier than the thought that combining two major gaming networks with issues of their own might cause some bugs. You have to consider what would hurt sony's image more.

 

[mjc0961]

Sony never actually said it was anon, they said it could possibly be a third party. People aren't reading things properly it seems...

Yep. This is the internet after all. If someone suggests that it might be a third party, then that's confirmation that anon did it regardless of what the actual statement said.

Personally, I'm voting for the problem being internal. This is Sony, the company that, among many other fuckups, couldn't program a calendar that properly handles leap years.

 

[RoyalWelsh]

Sony never actually said it was anon, they said it could possibly be a third party. People aren't reading things properly it seems...

Yeah, this. Not once did Sony say it was Anon.

Anyway, I don't think it's Anon, not even a 'rogue cell'. Most likely an internal error. And by internal error I mean a massive fuck up by Sony.