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Anonymous: PSN outage not our doing

Hacker group denies responsibility for Sony's online service going offline, says it's just a convenient scapegoat for electronics giant.

After going down Wednesday night, Sony's PlayStation Network is still down as of Friday afternoon. And ever since a Thursday morning notice that it may be a day or two before service is restored, Sony has been silent on the matter.

At the moment, it only does offline.

One group that isn't staying quiet is Anonymous. In protest of Sony's litigious treatment of PlayStation 3 hackers, the decentralized group temporarily brought down the PSN earlier this month with distributed denial of service attacks. However, today a press release posted on the loose-knit organization's news site insists it has nothing to do with Sony's current woes.

In a release titled, "For Once We Didn't Do It," the group acknowledges members of Anonymous could be acting independently, but insists its organizational structure "was not related to this incident and does not take responsibility for whatever has happened." It goes on to suggest that Sony is merely using its recent struggles with the group "to distract users from the fact that the outage is actually an internal problem with the company's servers."

The note specifically points to an entry posted to and then pulled from the official European PlayStation Blog that implied the PSN could be down due to "targeted behavior by an outside party." The Anonymous attack from earlier this month not only impacted the PSN, but also brought down PlayStation.com and the official PlayStation blog for stretches of time.

517 Comments

  • 246824682468

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:45 pm PT

    why i have an xbox

  • DeanoFantasy

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:35 pm PT

    Anonymous or not, I couldn't care less, I didn't buy my PS3 for this to happen, I have no interest in this debate, I just want the online service up and running like it should be just like any other system, grow up people, dislike, like, whatever! move on! gaming is all that matters to me! online or offline.

  • Flint247

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:30 pm PT

    I feel bad for Sony this year. One attack after another.

  • DeanoFantasy

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:28 pm PT

    F**k these wannabe attention seekers! I want my online gaming community back!

  • georgeww

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:28 pm PT

    dont hate theis guys, give them the benefit of the doubt, get anger at the billion dollar company that cant keep its servers up lol.

  • dicegamer

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:25 pm PT

    oh PS

    @parrot_of_adun
    GO AND PLAY WITH A FREAKIN NERD AND HAVE PIE HAVE A COOKIE AND STOP FEELING SORRY FOR THOSE NERDMONKEY ANONYMOUS AND STOP BEING A BLOODY DUMBDUMB

  • dicegamer

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:18 pm PT

    LIAR LAIR ANONYMOUS U AND U GROUP OF DUMB DUMB IZ GROUP OF 3ND GRADE LIARS AND i know who ya look like too and oh u and ur group acting are so lame the from saw REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY all the who use gamespot check this out anonymous u want to be famous heckno i will make u @$$crowd INFAMOUS cause ur messin with the wrong one PS3 fan, check this out and oh ya should thanks my new friend @MfKiNGG360 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYBPBeM7gZ8&feature=share thank when u dumb dumb can stop being a mommomboy and oh LADIES a dumb schoolgirl and u know of millon of people who hate hackers know what they talking about

  • halosqrrl

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:09 pm PT

    i think that if sony sends everyone a cookie and stops bullying people for messing with their toys than everyone will be happy...

  • Yathoom

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:43 pm PT

    if this is true, bad news for Sony. Now they have 2 groups after them.

  • KOSMOSEngineer

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:38 pm PT

    I don't think it's Anonymous, but I still think they're self-important pricks and even the condescending tone of the announcement annoys me.

  • lapiza

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:32 pm PT

    @nafe

    sony has said it was an external intrusion, they havn't pointed the finger at anonymous

  • parrot_of_adun

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:15 pm PT

    @ - "a terrorist is some one or something causing unwanted or harmfull actions"

    Actually, no. A terrorist is someone who systematically incites terror. That's it. While causing harm frequently goes hand in hand with terrorism, it is not necessary. And again, terrorism is certainly going to be unwanted, but so are many other actions that don't fall into the definition of terrorism.

    That said, most of these folk's actions would, in fact, be terrorism.

    Note: By "these folks", I mean this neo-anonymous (the ones represented by anonnews.org), not the old anon (represented largely by a web page censored on GS), who tend only to do things either for the lulz, or benign things like saving abused cats.

  • RJWidowMaker

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:05 pm PT

    @ Steve

    Actually, anonymous is known for making sure that people know when they did something, they are standing up for a cause, they arent just a group of random hackers trying to ruin your lives. Very few hackers actually hack other people on xbl or psn.. Usually hackers just modify their ps3 or xbox and play offline. For anyone to automaticly assume that all hackers have mis-intentions or are doing wrong is just plain profiling. I bought my PS3 for $300. It is my piece of hardware now, not sony's. I don't get on PSN, and don't hack other people, so therefore I have done nothing wrong. And yet still somehow ignorant fanboys hate on hackers as a whole instead of realizing it's not just black and white, there is a shade of gray. Now if you can't realize that then all I can say is keep on being a blind-folded sheep.

  • Nafe

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 3:57 pm PT

    anonymous had nothing to do with this, look up there videos on youtube. When they do something, they tell EVERYONE. When they don't they tell everyone. They always admit to there actions. Sony using a tactic to blame other people is very low. Go on youtube and look up there videos and watch what happened when people at a church accused them of doing nothing, they don't take well to that.

  • RJWidowMaker

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 3:56 pm PT

    Arab, I can't tell you how much you just made yourself sound like a drugy, in denial too.

  • ArabrockermanX

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 3:45 pm PT

    @anzelm You to, also Im sorry I was condescending in my writing to you. Most the time people get caught up in the methods of an organization and lose sight of the reason for their actions and although things like this are really are not justifiable its important to remember why they felt they should do this @jeffbordonaro I did just come off a 48 hour day so I guess Im a bit stoned although not from drugs. I start hallucinating when I dont get enough sleep and honestly if drugs make you feel anything like that I dont know why a person would use them...

  • mergulho456

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 2:19 pm PT

    @mightEone Go play them then. I'll call you a multi-platform troll since you took it to heart.

  • jeffbordonaro

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 1:57 pm PT

    @ArabrockermanX Are you stoned out of your mind or something??....
    ...I am lmao

  • mightEone

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 1:52 pm PT

    @mergulho456

    "leave us ps3 gamers alone" -mergulho

    You sound like a little baby. I never said anything bad about PS3, I just said you get what you pay for. You assume I'm a 360 Troll like a typical fanboy would. For all you know I might be a Wii Troll or a PC Troll. I own every system. You know what, call me an N64 Troll because I have that too.

  • anzelm

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 1:31 pm PT

    @ArabrockermanX: "In all honesty as much as I like the PSN Sony did cross some lines when they went and got the court to rule in favor of them looking through an unprecedented amount of private information that really didn't affect the legal case at hand. Personally Ive never bother attempting hacking or visiting their websites so I could just sit their and say it doesn't affect me but the reality is if the courts keep moving in this direction we wont have any privacy." - I agree with you regarding this matter. Well written I haven't anything else to respond so I'll just say, it has been nice discussing with you. Take care!

  • steve4123456789

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 1:29 pm PT

    There not going to say "yes we did"

  • edfieldhouse

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 1:08 pm PT

    @comb5 Narrow-mindedness I'm afraid. But I think it's purely because of frustration.

  • ArabrockermanX

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 1:02 pm PT

    @kubb724 Again Im saying you kids are over using serious terminology and this is far from a terrorist attack. "a terrorist is some one or something causing unwanted or harmful actions" if you want to go by that standard there is way to many terrorist in the world. Governments love people that think like you using this simplistic form of thinking gives them way to much discretion when they go to prosecute and kids throwing stones through a window who should be fined and charged with vandalism turns into "terrorist". Go back to school you're not a very good teacher. Also you misspelled "harmfull"...

  • redskinStu

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:53 pm PT

    It wouldn be beneath nerd-hackers to lie, though.

  • Micropanic

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:41 pm PT

    Anonymous had nothing to do with this. If they did, they'd own up to it. They've never been in the business of doing attacks without publicising before and after the fact. In the meantime, go BAWWW in your mothers lap. Noone else cares about you.

  • Fajonkel

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:36 pm PT

    @ comb5
    Because alot of people are idiots.

    And frankly, Anonymous has in the past owned up to every single attack. That's how their attacks have PURPOSE. If they say they didn't, then they didn't. It's just Sony's scapegoat.

  • kirkonacid

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:33 pm PT

    I am so sick of anonymous. Have they helped anyone like they claim they're trying to do?

  • Philly04

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:28 pm PT

    Something's going on and it's getting greasy. There's articles stating similar on other game sites.

  • Tamjid2009

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:27 pm PT

    So this team are supporting us gamers by taking away our online gaming from us and now are expecting us to believe them it wasn't their doing?
    Sweet.

  • Philly1UPer

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:09 pm PT

    I think I'm going to hack into Anoms website and main servers. Just going to put many virus onto the website, so whenever one of them logs in, they catch it and it destroys their hard drive.

  • Blink3r

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 12:02 pm PT

    I was sure it wasn't their doing... It's obvious Sony is blaming them in order to cover up what is really happening... What better time to do it than now, when everyone knows about Annonymous? =p Well played Sony.

  • comb5

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 11:52 am PT

    So why is it that even though Anonymous says they have nothing to do with this 90% of the comments on here are people being pissed off at them? It doesn't make any sense.

  • edfieldhouse

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 11:42 am PT

    I'm looking forward to when the "offline status" on the psn webpage turns to "Deceased"

  • XaK2

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 10:58 am PT

    Who hacks a corporation that by doing so hurts the public more than the corp? I mean whatever the reason for the hacking, you wont be gaining any support from me by doing something like this. I don't even play online games for the most part, (minus demons souls) but I find this uncool and lame. Whatever point the hacker/hackers were trying to make, even if I supported it, I don't support the method. Try something different next time that wont affected the general public in a negative way.

  • ArabrockermanX

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 10:39 am PT

    @anzelm The US was doing that before they signed any outside agreements =) . My point was some methods may seem wrong in the norm of the time but in the future you may end up thanking hackers for their actions. I really dont think Anonymous will ever be that important or help people though to be honest but they may spark a movement to push for greater online privacy somewhere along the way with their actions because they have brought alot more public attention to these situations. One thing many people dont realize is that when online you aren't granted basic privacy rights because like with cell phones the courts like to play this silly game of claiming not to understand the technology therefor it doesn't get the rights of similar previous technology. In all honesty as much as I like the PSN Sony did cross some lines when they went and got the court to rule in favor of them looking through an unprecedented amount of private information that really didn't affect the legal case at hand. Personally Ive never bother attempting hacking or visiting their websites so I could just sit their and say it doesn't affect me but the reality is if the courts keep moving in this direction we wont have any privacy.

  • ArabrockermanX

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 10:27 am PT

    @jeffbordonaro Yes since germs and cancer are harmless... No this isn't terrorism I know all you little kids dont know what to do with your lives since the PSN is down. Also I know Anonymous rap sheet and so far this doesn't go along with things they've done. My point is you kids want to classify anything that in some way inhibits your life style as terrorism. If Anonymous was shutting down a network important to US security or something that was endangering people then it would be terrorism but this kind of behavior is no different then kids throwing stones through some businesses window because they don't approve of their practices. Vandalism yes terrorism no.

  • MuffintopX

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 10:11 am PT

    If Anonymous didn't officially do this, I don't doubt they shared the knowledge to do this with others who would, since sharing harmful information seems to be their thing. Some other jackwagon likely took PSN down this time, and Sony decided to keep it down to rebuild the architecture so people can't keep doing this whenever they feel like it.

  • tai547167

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 10:00 am PT

    "You condemns those who you do not understand!"(Ezio Auditore)
    You shouldn't condemn all hackers because of one incident. There are good hackers and bad hackers. Crackers(illegal) and hackers(legal) both serve a very different purpose. Sure Anonymous may be a hacker group , but that does not justify that they are all crackers who are all rotten to the core. Anonymous is just a peace activist group that protects "Hackers" who got caught by the law due to some dumb stunt pulled by the assailant. Similar won't you find both good politic and corrupt politics in our government as of now. Where they abuse their authority and pocket their with gold. Anyways do your research before you flame, you might accidently hurt someone because you just don't know!

  • Fajonkel

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 8:44 am PT

    People, they said "a few members might be acting independantly", and you all just go crazy saying "Oh, look at that, they owned up to it!"

    No, no they didn't. This doesn't have anything to do with Anonymous. If you were Sony, and you can get away with pulling a fault in your own system as putting it on your enemy, of course you would.

    I wish people would stop making Anonymous the villain. Once they realized that they brought down PSN, their attacks stopped, since they don't want to harm the consumer. They aren't the enemy.

  • hector530

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 8:42 am PT

    At the moment, it only does offline

    lol i thought that was funny

  • shaks101

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 8:36 am PT

    I will continue to wait patiently for PSN to come back online. I can't say I am happy with the long 5 days without it, and I do not care for these hacker groups or anything else. Just get the damn thing back on Playstation!

  • proshake

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 7:38 am PT

    The real reason for the PSN outage, you better check it out.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lax36XC91mI

    The truth must be set free.

  • tmacman

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 7:28 am PT

    @Jackc8

    It would actually be more cost effective for sony give them civil slap on the wrist, settlle at "We take away your equipment and ban you from playstation", get their real names put on news websites, which screws up your job reference , "So you think it's fun to hack eh?" (I doubt these guys are of the level to be hired by law enforcement, they just crash stuff and make it obvious , probably one of the easier things to do in the world of hacking), it messes up their confidence for maybe the rest of their lives, and they still have to pay their lawyers something.

    'Cause you got to keep in mind that Sony have to have lawyers as well , and I doubt those guys work for free

  • Jackc8

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 7:18 am PT

    So they're saying that members of their group are probably doing it, but the "organizational structure" isn't officially responsible? And this is supposed to make people hate them less? How moronic. I hope these people get tracked down and spend the rest of their lives having their wages garnished to pay off the multi-million dollar lawsuit.

  • badiie05

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 6:27 am PT

    *sigh* who to believe? ..well this just aint cool lol

  • jeffbordonaro

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:51 am PT

    @ArabrockermanX ...uhh Terrorists aren't just people who kill others in mass. There are tons of terrorist types. Muslim Terrorists, jihad terrorists, Cyber Terrorists, Bodily terrorists such as germs or cancer..a terrorist is some one or something causing unwanted or harmfull actions , shall I go on?...I'm sure Anon falls into the Cyber Terrorist category ..have you not seen their history?

  • mergulho456

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 5:19 am PT

    @mightEone Xbox360 troll. Go back to your paid service friend, and leave us ps3 gamers alone with our business. And unless your gonna say something nice, go on 360 posts.

    *Troll fed*

  • hasancakir

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:47 am PT

    Sony got the attention of all hackers worldwide. therefore it is expected. Let's hope they can fix it as soon as possible before easter ends.

  • warbrady

    Posted Apr 24, 2011 4:31 am PT

    i dont care if its not there fult they shouldnt hack at all its not there right to. all hackers are the same and should be delt with severly.

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