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Hardware, Software & Security…

Sony’s PlayStation Network once again has been hit with a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack believed to be perpetrated by the underground hack society known as Anonymous. Sony has decided to pull the plug on its PlayStation Network after it believes sensitive user information may have been leaked in the attack. According to reports Anonymous does claim responsibility for the DDoS attack but is adamant that the taking of sensitive customer data did not come under its direction. Since Anonymous is made up of individual citizens from all over the world it is possible some or one may have acted on their own accord.
What’s a DDoS Attack
A DDoS attack is essentially hundreds or thousands of users generating thousands or more requests each to a single web site or web service. Due to the cumulative enormity of such an attack the site or service becomes overwhelmed with the false requests and is unable to properly service the real requests which effectively brings the service or site to a crawl and makes it unusable. DDoS is a popular method of attack used as a form of civil disobedience and has become a very effective tool for the underground community to show its displeasure with abuse or injustices.
Who is Anonymous?
Anonymous is a massive underground movement of individuals who have organized themselves shortly after WikiLeaks came under intense scrutiny by the US and Swedish governments for releasing sensitive US government cables believed to be leaked by then Pfc. Bradley Manning. Since the leaks, Manning has been held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, is under constant surveillance, is not allowed to exercise and has not been allowed a pillow or bed sheets despite not having been convicted of a crime. Anonymous has shown strong support for WikiLeaks by using DDoS attacks to shut down many credit card and other online payment vendors who have stopped servicing WikiLeaks, thus preventing WikiLeaks from collecting contributions and donations made online using these services.
Operation Payback – Sony and Anonymous
Anonymous’ battles with Sony began shortly after Sony brought lawsuits against PS3 hackers forcing them never to hack a Playstation even though they legally owned the hardware. This has been an ongoing licensing battle for years between hardware vendors and power users who want to improve their systems much like a car owner could upgrade parts in his/her car without getting sued by the manufacturer. Anonymous created a manifesto called Operation Payback – Sony announcing its stance on Sony’s actions and what it intends to do to make Sony pay. This is the Anonymous video associated with Operation Payback – Sony.

Stay tuned for more….