‘Tis the season to be jolly, unless hackers ruin Christmas morning…
A hacker collective has threatened to shut down Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network this Christmas.
The group, which is self-titled as ‘Phantom Squad’, vowed to shutter both services for a whole week.
Here’s the tweet in question:
https://twitter.com/statuses/674391272728039426
The Phantom Squad also posted a Twitter poll asking other users which service they’d prefer to be taken down:
https://twitter.com/statuses/676632849840115712
The attack would mirror a similar attack that saw gamers worldwide shut out of online console gaming last Christmas.
The Phantom Squad’s reasoning goes something like this: if systems can be taken down, it proves the security isn’t good enough.
The group explains itself in the following tweet:
https://twitter.com/statuses/676167818094632960
Related: Best Free Antivirus 2015
Of course, Twitter folk weren’t too happy with the planned attack, and hit back at the Phantom Squad:
https://twitter.com/statuses/ 675526937645858816
https://twitter.com/statuses/ 675793256110780416
https://twitter.com/statuses/ 675779688892092416
https://twitter.com/statuses/ 675784750397722624
Phantom Squad has already attacked a number of services, including Grand Theft Auto 5 online.
It also alleges to have taken down Reddit earlier this morning, although the site currently seems to be working to full effect.
Do you think these hackers make a good point, or are they just Scrooges by a different name? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
