In-brief: The head of a hosting firm said a botnet of almost 150,000 cameras and digital video recorders was behind a massive denial of service attack.
LizardSquad
Two Step: FBI Says North Korea Acted Alone, Had Help
The official line on perhaps the biggest security story of the year shifted noticeably this week following a report by the security firm Norse Corp. that cast doubt on the official explanation of the devastating November hack: that it was a state-sponsored operation carried out by hackers working for the government of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or DPRK. Two reports in recent days – both citing officials close to the Sony hack investigation – suggest that the FBI believes – simultaneously – that the DPRK did not act alone and that it was the only actor responsible for the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Game Networks Struggle Back After Holiday Attacks
Online gaming networks including Sony’s Playstation network were the victims of large-scale denial of service attacks that coincided with the Christmas holiday. As of Saturday, Microsoft’s X-Box gaming network had returned to full operation, while Sony’s Playstation Network was still struggling to restore service, 48 hours after attacks attributed to an online hacktivist group known as The Lizard Squad hobbled the gaming networks on their biggest day of the year: Christmas. “Update: PS4, PS3, and Vita network services are gradually coming back online – thanks for your patience,” Sony tweeted via its @AskPlayStation Twitter account early Saturday. The source of the denial of service attacks has not been confirmed. However, the group claiming responsibility for them has claimed that the attacks were more prank than anything else: an effort to irritate Playstation and X-box owners who received a new device on Christmas Day, only to find they couldn’t connect it to the […]
