The PlayStation Network was hacked over the weekend, with digital criminals disrupting gameplay for millions by overwhelming the network with fake Internet traffic. No user information seemed to be stolen, however a related incident did ground an American Airlines flight carrying a Sony executive.
"Like other major networks around the world, the PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network have been impacted by an attempt to overwhelm our network with artificially high traffic," Sony's Sid Shuman
wrote in a Sunday blog post.
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"Although this has impacted your ability to access our network and enjoy our services, no personal information has been accessed. We will continue to work towards fixing this issue and hope to have our services up and running as soon as possible. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused."
CNet.com reported that the attack, commonly known as a DDoS attack (distributed denial of service attack), was likely perpetrated by a group known as the "Lizard Squad," which claimed responsibility on Twitter. It seems that Battle.net games like World of Warcraft may have also been targeted, as some reported a significant slowdown on the network.
Lizard Squad also grounded American Airlines flight 362, which was diverted to Phoenix as a precaution after the hacker group said they heard reports that there was a bomb on the flight, potentially targeting Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley, who was on-board.
According to Reuters, Lizard Squad's tweet "followed an earlier tweet from a game player's forum telling the airline: 'I'm gonna send a bomb on your plane be ready for me tomorrow.'"
A PlayStation spokesperson said that the FBI is now looking into threat. The flight was reportedly en route from Dallas/Fort Worth to San Diego when the bomb scare surfaced.
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