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back to article Sony implicates Anonymous in PlayStation Network hack

Forensics experts investigating the security breach on Sony's PlayStation Network found a file on one of the hacked systems that was titled “Anonymous” and contained the phrase “We are Legion,” the company's chairman told members of congress. The revelation, made in a letter, (PDF here) that Sony Chairman Kazuo Hirai sent on …

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  1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Bullshit

    If it were at all possible Sony would have just gone down further in my estimation.

    I don't for one minute think that Anon. had any connection with this. It's just not the way they work.

    What is far more likely is that a criminal gang was already preparing for this attack, and found the Anon. DDOS a convenient smokescreen. Obviously they'd think of leaving a 'note' behind to muddy the waters further. One could argue they wouldn't be very {ahem} professional if they didn't!

    In reality Sony is responsible for their own lax security - has a certain familiarity doesn't it?

    40 4
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bullshit.

      Anonymous would never have done this.

      Not only do they go for big targets in protection of the little guy (this attack was not against Sony but its user base) but the information stolen is bound to contain a vast number of anonymous supporters if not actual members.

      The first thought I had on reading this is that it's a distraction by the real perpetrators but I wouldn't put it past Sony to have planted that message themselves.

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      1. Intractable Potsherd
        Reply Icon

        Re: Anonymous

        I am reluctant to use the word "never" in this context. Whilst it would constitute a major change of direction for Anonymous to do this, Anonymous isn't an organisation with clearly defined structure. Unlikely as I think it is, it could be someone who thinks they are operating under the Anon banner who has missed the basic ethos of Anon.

        Alternatively, this loathsome Sony bastard is trying to get Anon to do his work for him by giving them incentive to find the culprit - come to think of it, that actually sounds more plausible to me ...

        0 0
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Intractable Potsherd

          Anonymous doesn't have an official registration list, the same case in any criminal organization. If I blow up my house and leave a note that says "al qaeda claims responsibility" does that make me a member of al qaeda? Does it make them responsible? Of course not.

          If Anon "did this" it is the same case I outlined. Someone who claimed to be a member and has nothing to do with it. Anon could "never" do this because it is against their established platform. It'd be like al qaeda assassinating the president of Iran. It wouldn't make any sense.

          If Anon did do it, there'd be no cause for alarm. Anon hacks things because they can (tm) and would not use or resell the personal information collected.

          0 0
          1. Ammaross Danan
            Reply Icon
            Pirate

            @Bullseyed

            "If Anon did do it, there'd be no cause for alarm. Anon hacks things because they can (tm) and would not use or resell the personal information collected."

            But it could be held for ransom.

            0 0
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Stop

          "...this loathsome Sony bastard is trying..."

          to make Anon into a massive criminal organisation, possibly with a view to invoking the USA's RICO statutes. Which would be a very, very dangerous thing for anyone who has so much as bought a drink for a member of Anonymous.

          0 0
    2. BillG
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      More Bullshit

      > I don't for one minute think that Anon. had any connection with this.

      Yeah. Sure.

      Anonymous is such a TRUSTWORTHY organization, right?

      > What is far more likely is that a criminal gang was already preparing for

      > this attack, and found the Anon. DDOS a convenient smokescreen.

      > Obviously they'd think of leaving a 'note' behind to muddy the waters further.

      > One could argue they wouldn't be very {ahem} professional if they didn't!

      One could argue that you need to cut back on your drinking.

      Look, Anonymous by their own admission is a criminal organization. They can't argue the "honor among thieves" plot because as a collective, it only takes one of them to decide to aim all their guns at one target, right? At best, this was a rogue member of Anon that decided to use their bot network to steal valuable data. At worst, Anon is tired of just being irritating and have decided that it's time to make some money off of innocent people. Look at any cracker network and you'll see that inevitably they abandon any "principles" that started them and eventually graduate into more malicious crimes. Anon is now getting greedy.

      0 11
  2. Mectron

    yap yap yap

    Sony, unpunished for a long series of CRIMES (rootkit, removal of porduct feature, sueing whitout legal ground, draconian ILLEGAL DRM etc...) got it just deserve. This incident will hopefully bring Sony down, as it is a OPENLY CRMINSAL CORPORATION that should have been shutdown after the rootkit fiasco.

    Sony need to be sued for every single penny they have, it;s owner jailed and the company shutdown.

    GAME OVER SONY

    19 14
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Unhappy

      Wow...

      ...hyperbole much? Come on - you don't shut down a massive company over a fiasco involving some extremely small percentage of its business. It's absurd.

      And Sony may be a**holes, calling them openly crminsal... uhh... criminal... is just not true. A good chunk of their idiocy would be covered by civil or contract law, and the rest of the stuff that pisses people off is usually their *using* the law.

      Sony's behavior has been contemptible, but rabid, nonsense tantrums serve only to lower the credibility of those rightly concerned about Sony's actions. There's a reason the term 'freetards' exists - people taking justified anger to unreasonable extremes.

      You only hurt the cause when you fly off the handle. Please stop.

      19 12
      1. Steve Evans
        Reply Icon

        @David W.

        I think the rootkit they embedded in the audio CD would be classed as criminal. Installing software onto a machine without the user's consent.

        25 1
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Boffin

          But still...

          ...I'm not sure where, or whether, that falls foul of actual criminal law. There was a warning (vague, albeit) about copy protection, and the software itself wasn't malware. I'm talking from a court's perspective, not the user's perspective - it wasn't a keylogger or a backdoor etc.

          I'm actually curious where that falls in terms of legality. But the OP's assertion that Sony should be 'shut down' is utterly absurd, since the penalty for doing the same thing as an individual would at most be a few years in the lockup - particularly if it was for the purposes of content protection.

          And, of course, the other parts are just laughable - removing a feature from a product is criminal now? Kinda funny how loud people are about having the right to add features to products they buy... but then do a 180 and claim the crime of the century has been committed if a manufacturer removes features from a product that it *makes*! Even if the feature had been explicitly promised in a EULA or service contract, violating the terms would be a civil issue, not a criminal one.

          Oh well... talking to a wall and all that. A crazy wall. Made out of crazy bricks.

          In crazyville.

          11 10
          1. David Hicks
            Reply Icon

            @David W.

            "There was a warning (vague, albeit) about copy protection, and the software itself wasn't malware."

            Err... define malware?

            The Sony XCP software was apparently installed silently before a EULA was displayed, and the EULA didn't mention taht it installed hidden software. It then ate resources, caused bluescreens, put in measures that allowed processes to hide themselves and generally caused trouble. Then it prevented you format shifting music you had bought, except to a few (mostly Sony) devices.

            Whether it's criminal depends on how you interpret the actions against various laws about using computers without permission, laws Sony are currently trying to bend as myuch as possible in their favour when it comes to people accessing their own playstations without Sony's permission...

            sony shouldn't be shut down, they should be ignored and left to wither and die.

            16 2
            1. Anonymous Coward
              Reply Icon
              Anonymous Coward

              ID10T errors abound

              Let's get something straight because people do seem a bit dim in understanding this. The DRM/rootkit issue was solely down to SONY USA, not the Sony Corporation. Once it was discovered that the rootkit issue existed Sony Corporation shot down SONY USA and apparently set rules that with regards to things like this so it doesn't happen again.

              Again, afaik, the servers that were hacked are in the USA and protected by Sony USA. If there was lacksadaisical security then the decisions were down to SONY USA - not the head office,

              So, in conclusion - shutting down the whole corporation is an idiotic idea conceived by a moron.

              And just to finish - while people go on about the poor security I think you are blurring the issue or are just trolling. The did have the items well secured but sometimes hackers are determined.

              Finally, if anonymous's DDoS attack did take down one of the PSN servers then yes, they can be held responsible because they effectively kicked down the gate and opened the door. They may not have committed the robbery but they are a part of it.

              Oh, and if Sony deserve to be shutdown then Microsoft deserve to be shutdown and all their employees, past and present, lined up against the wall and shot.

              4 5
              1. Not That Andrew
                Reply Icon

                Re: 1D10T errors abound

                Actually it's more like taking advantage of an anti-globalisation riot to commit a bank robbery while the police are distracted. The rioters are to blame for any destruction they caused, but not for the robbery, although any sufficiently vindictive prosecutor would find some way to make a charge of aiding and abetting stick.

                3 0
                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Reply Icon
                  Joke

                  Hmm...Good Idea

                  What are you guys doing next May 1st, London? :)

                  Wheres my Guy Fawkes icon btw?

                  0 0
              2. Anonymous Coward
                Reply Icon
                Flame

                Re: ID10T errors abound

                "Once it was discovered that the rootkit issue existed Sony Corporation shot down SONY USA and apparently set rules that with regards to things like this so it doesn't happen again."

                Why did Sony Corporation need to do a single thing? According to your logic, Sony Corporation are not in the slightest bit responsible for "SONY USA" who are just a bunch of loose cannons acting on their own initiative.

                In reality, Sony Corporation are responsible and have an ongoing responsibility to make sure that everyone in their worldwide organisation, subsidiaries and partners behave according to the law. They also have to make sure that compliance with the law is not an "after the fact" effort.

                And to the person claiming that the whole business wasn't criminal, even in the US putting unadvertised snooping facilities onto people's systems probably gets you mixed up with surveillance-related legislation. Moreover, had an individual been responsible for this, they'd have been up before a judge in no time.

                But then it's always been fashionable to advocate a soft touch for corporations, especially in America.

                4 0
              3. Anonymous Coward
                Reply Icon
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: AC 8:52 GMT

                "Let's get something straight because people do seem a bit dim in understanding this. The DRM/rootkit issue was solely down to SONY USA, not the Sony Corporation. Once it was discovered that the rootkit issue existed Sony Corporation shot down SONY USA and apparently set rules that with regards to things like this so it doesn't happen again."

                Well dude after I shot that guy in the head I totally stopped shooting people in the head and sold my gun and made sure I'll never guy a gun in the head... so... no harm no foul right?

                "Finally, if anonymous's DDoS attack did take down one of the PSN servers then yes, they can be held responsible because they effectively kicked down the gate and opened the door. They may not have committed the robbery but they are a part of it."

                The Sony rootkit kicked open the door of millions of computers, so therefore, by your logic, Sony is responsible for all current and future issues those computers have. I'm fine with that, a couple hundred billion should cover it.

                2 0
          2. Alex Walsh
            Reply Icon

            it falls in terms of

            not actually meeting the red book standard for CD's :)

            Perhaps its a breach of trade descriptions marketing an audio CD that doesn't conform to the standard?

            1 0
            1. Anonymous Coward
              Reply Icon
              Happy

              Close...

              ...I actually had help start a slangin match between Sony and Philips and get a CD replaced.

              A CD I bought many years ago had copy protection and refused to play in my (hi0-fi) CD recorder. So I contacted Philips.. I was then copied in a mail from Philips to Sony asking why this this was carrying the CD logo, when clearly it did not conform to the Red Book standard.

              Apparently it turned out it was one of the early protected CD's and should not have had the logo on it.

              Philips then got back to me to say to ask for a non copied protected version, or (had to laugh at this point) use the optical ports from another standard player and make a clone on the recorder for a perfect copy without the protection. It works for all protected material :-)

              However this was at the time a blank disc knocked you back a tenner.

              I took the CD back to HMV and got my money back. Not on principle, but because it was crap!

              0 0
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          FAIL

          Rootkit?

          Another idiot that's fallen for the internet myth of the Sony Rootkit.

          A rootkit needs to give root access AND cover it's tracks. The "rootkit" never gave root access, it installed a copy protection system and covered it's tracks.

          Immoral, yes, illegal no, malicious, no.

          Still why let facts get in the way of a great internet myth.

          This place is hilarious these days, all the children that glean their only knowledge from Wikipedia and Xbox Forums....

          6 10
          1. copsewood
            Reply Icon
            Boffin

            Sony rootkit designation as malware was no myth

            You can think what you like about the legitimacy or otherwise of the Sony Rootkit based on the questionable idea that those who installed it on their computers consented to this. (If anyone infected didn't authorise access, then this was technically a UK Computer Misuse Act section 3 offence.) Regardless of your opinion, when push came to shove the Windows Antivirus vendors were forced to respect their customers interests in having spyware which compromised system security and allowed other malware to infect systems removed. I imagine the reason the AV vendors didn't designate the Sony rootkit as malware immediately and took some time to do this, is that they had to understand what it did and also had to overcome any fear of potential libel/slander action by Sony, in relation to this decision so to designate. The fact they eventually designated the rootkit as malware in their search engines disproves your assertion this software was non-malicious, whatever the motivations behind the misguided arrogance of Sony executives who commissioned the design and distribution of this software.

            This road to hell is paved with good intentions: http://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/sony-first4-knew-about-rootkit-issue-advance

            You might also want to check Dan Kaminsky's research into the DNS behaviour of infected computers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Kaminsky#Sony_Rootkit .

            4 1
          2. sisk
            Reply Icon

            @Rootkit?

            Immoral, yes. Illegal, YES. malicious, YES. Rootkit? That would depend on what level of access it used to do what it did. I would suspect that it grabbed admin level permissions from itself, but I can't say that for sure. If that is, in fact, what it did then it could legitimately be called a rootkit.

            Now let me explain. It was illegal because it installed with niether the consent nor the knowledge of the owner of the computer. It was malicious because it caused damage to the system. Their intentions may not have been malicious, but the end result most definately was.

            2 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Go

      @yap yap yap.

      Opera has a built in spell check mechanism. Time to switch browsers?

      6 8
      1. Chris 244
        Reply Icon
        Headmaster

        @AC @yap yap yap @Opera "built in spell checker"

        Correct usage is "built-in". So much for Opera.

        1 1
    3. Prag Fest
      Reply Icon
      Jobs Halo

      @Mectron

      Have you ever kissed a girl son?

      0 0
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    It wasn't OUR fault !!!

    Soooooo....

    "It wasn't our fault we have crap security yada, yada, yada..." ????

    Typical.

    14 0
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    We found a file

    Handy that, saves a fortune in forensic investigation when the perp leaves such a blatant calling card.

    Of course they are clever enough to get into the network and steal all that data so they may be clever enough to leave false clues!

    Paris, more secure than Sony

    21 0
  5. Chad H.
    WTF?

    Oh look, its the next Boogeyman of the week.

    Give me a break.

    If anonymous had hacked Sony, they'd take credit for it publicly! They're in it for the Lulz remember, and there's no lulz if noone knows it was you.

    Are Anonymous the new Boogeyman of the week? What else can we blame on them?

    33 0
    1. Mark 65
      Reply Icon

      Indeed

      Gordon Brown had actually ended boom and bust until Anonymous hacked him.

      7 0
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        The moment his defences were penetrated...

        ...was captured on TV for all to see. You can see what happens when someone else takes control right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji4WD2b-anM

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      2. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. CASIOMS-8V
      Reply Icon
      Joke

      Blame Anonymous

      This morning I got up and went to the fridge for my normal glass of orange juice.

      I came away with a glass of milk, Anonymous are in my fridge hacking my drink choices.

      0 0
  6. alex dekker 1

    Yeah, right

    Good luck trying to get anybody to believe this, Sony! Even if it was true, all you're doing is helping to build the Anonymous brand.

    15 0
  7. Chris Hatfield

    I hope Congress is astute..

    ..as the journo who wrote this.

    The Sony man probably put that file there, to garner sympathy.

    6 0
    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Sympathy ?!

      They'll need much, much more than that to get a shred of sympathy from me.

      3 0
  8. Gordon 10

    FUD

    Makes it easy for Sony to blame Anon instead of looking for the real perps.

    All smoke and mirrrors - move along people.

    10 0
    1. nyelvmark
      Reply Icon
      Unhappy

      Disgree

      It's perfectly possible that the perpetrator is a "member" of Anonymous, but so what? We don't know who they are, because they themselves don't know. There's evidence that some pretty clever hackers sometimes contribute to their campaigns, and I suspect most members of Anon would consider Sony to be fair game, after the DRM fiasco.

      It's also notable that, according to Sony, the attackers weren't interested in the credit card data. That does fit the modus operandi of Anon.

      In any case, a file called "anonymous" containaining "we are legion" proves nothing except that the perpetrators know about Anonymous. And what net-savvy person doesn't?

      11 1
      1. Elmer Phud
        Reply Icon

        According to Sony

        According to Sony they are squeaky clean.

        That's just bollocks though, they have been very reticent in providing information, reluctant to tell users they had been hacked, slow in making announcements (apart from 'it was the nasty boys from next door wot done it') and extremely cagey about what was done and when.

        According to Sony they have the interests of thier users at heart - and that's really big, huge, enormous, Buster Gonads-sized bollcks in a wheelbarrow.

        "according to Sony, the attackers weren't interested in the credit card data."

        Yeah, right, Sony have been so late with info that many people now believe the opposite is true, there has been more than one attack that we know of and that info has been reluctantly dragged out of Sony.

        2 0
  9. Muckminded

    Sony implicates self in attack of stupidity

    Had we noticed the net was dangerous, yes, we would have reacted more proactively. Now, please, accept one month's free subscription to a network capable of compromising a lifetime's worth of credit rating.

    Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself.

    14 0
  10. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    hmm who to believe

    I feel that Sony may be trying to cover up some really really poor monitoring and design, and as for it being anonymous, they are really flying a kite.

    3 0
  11. OldBiddie

    Weaker ...

    Than my 90 year old gran's bladder.

    11 0
  12. Turtle

    Anonymous...

    The problem with Sony's contention of Anonymous' culpability is that Anonymous is actually pretty inept; witness their Low Orbit Ion Cannon applet, which has an auto-aim feature that aims it at the users' own foot. Have they ever done anything that is above the capability of a 12-year-old?

    6 0
  13. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Please stop labeling unrelated people as "Anonymous"

    "They" don't exist. Anonymous is about as much of a "collective" as our "Anonymous Coward" is. If someone claims that they are part of "Anonymous", we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that an entire coalition of supporters is backing their every move! They are just one person, hiding behind an ambiguous screen name. Hardly part of a collective.

    7 0
    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Big Brother

      It's convenient like Al Qaeda

      Also starts with A and you can probably whip up some War on Stuff to tag onto it.

      6 0
    2. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Well said sir!

      Anonymous is simply a bunch of basement dwellers who spend way, way too much time trawling 4-chan for the want of getting a fucking life!

      1 0
  14. Beau
    Flame

    I paid for it, I own it, I can do what I like to it!

    Maybe if Sony hadn't pissed of so many of its clients world wide, by deciding that just because they bought a Play Station that didn't mean they actually now own it. Perhaps Sony wouldn't be in quite so much shit as it is today!

    Modifying equipment you own, anyway you may chose, is not in itself illegal. While modifying other peoples computer software without telling them, when they install a Sony DVD player is!!

    9 1
    1. SirTainleyBarking
      Reply Icon
      Troll

      The only consequence should be

      The manufacturer not honouring the warranty if you break it.

      7 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Get over it

      (see title)

      1 9
    3. Naughtyhorse
      Reply Icon

      shhhh

      imagine if st jobs hears you say that, the legal implications for sony would be massive

      1 3
  15. John Sanders
    FAIL

    Sony should put the blame...

    On wizards, a wizard did it.

    Nobody believes that story about the file, it is too good to be true. And even if true, nobody will believe it, Sony's reputation leaves a lot to desire.

    4 0
  16. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

    it wasn't me!

    3 0
  17. Muckminded

    It's almost as if

    giant companies have their own interests foremost.

    If that is the case, then I will only occassionally purchase high-ticket items from them. No, really, mostly.

    1 0
  18. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    HBGary's convincing apprentices

    "Forensics experts investigating the security breach on Sony's PlayStation Network found a file on one of the hacked systems that was titled “Anonymous” and contained the phrase “We are Legion,” the company's chairman told members of congress."

    In other words...

    "Oh noes, the Anonymous organisation has signed their name on the evil deed, and in his lair the evil mastermind who heads up Anonymous, which must be an organisation that works exactly like corporations like Sony with vice presidents and everything (I wonder if they're listed on a stock exchange somewhere because then we can just look up where their HQ is and pay them a visit), is stroking his fluffy white cat and doing an evil laugh. Because every organisation, especially ones doing no good, has to have someone to sign the quarterly reports. I bet it's that Assange fellow!"

    Meanwhile...

    "That guy who snook into the dry cleaners and ruined the Sony CEO's pants must be Zorro because he left a Z mark on the seat! Put up the wanted posters now!"

    12 1
  19. Tim 64
    WTF?

    Duped?

    So the evil hacker duped Anonymous how exactly? By making Sony act like douche bags, for years? Doesn't it seem more likely that Sony provoked Anonymous all by themselves, by being douche bags, and the hacker took advantage of the situation. Seriously someone at Sony is smoking the good stuff.

    7 0
  20. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Anonops says no

    Even if they could conceivably be responsible (not for fraud, but to embarrass Sony), it doesn't sound like Anonymous to not brag about it. Let alone to deny involvement (as the topic of #OpSony does).

    Pitifull attempt by Sony

    3 0
  21. Naughtyhorse

    Seem to me...

    “What is becoming more and more evident is that _the public_ has been the victim of a very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber attack.

    who knows maybe the sucxxors will believe it was haxxors.

    1 1
  22. alex dekker 1

    "carefully planned, very professional"

    "Sony has been the victim of a very carefully planned, very professional, highly sophisticated criminal cyber attack" - in other words, the stealing of PII from Sony was nothing to do with Anonymous.

    The weasel wording in Sony's PR gives one the impression that they're saying Anonymous were responsible for stealing PII, but if you read it carefully they don't actually say that. I don't know if the headline writer has fallen into the same trap, or if it's just clickbait.

    1 0
    1. ElReg!comments!Pierre
      Reply Icon

      Re: they're saying

      >The weasel wording in Sony's PR gives one the impression that they're saying Anonymous were responsible for stealing PII

      Thats what they are saying, in essence. They're not saying that Anonymous did it, they're saying that the Anon attacks diverted their techies' attention, allowing the "PII" (yuck) to be stolen. Which might or might not be true, but doesn't reflect well on Sony's security procedures in any case. "our security people were so busy looking at a dog pissing on their shoes that they didn't notice the burglars ransacking the house". Security at its best.

      (I know that I'm pushing it a bit and that it not _that_ simple, a powerful DDOS attack is not something you can completely ignore when your business model relies heavily on fast connectivity, yadda yadda yadda, no need to point it. The fact is, the systems were too easily pwned, data was insufficiently hashed, no-one thought that checking logs after the DDOS could be a good idea, etc.... In short: LAMEST. EXCUSE. EVAR.)

      5 0
  23. Paul Shirley

    anonymous would piss away the publicity? Bullshit

    If anonymous had penetrated far enough to drop files they'd have dropped them all over every public facing server possible, not hidden so deep it took Sony days to find.

    This was either Sony themselves forging an excuse, pissed off ex-Sony employees or the criminal hackers - who would want to avoid alerting Sony for as long as possible.

    The worry is some US politicians really are stupid enough to fall for this obvious lie.

    7 0
    1. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Or....

      ....it was placed by very, very pissed off IT admins fed up with getting it in the neck from a management that probably wouldn't listen in the first place, when the techs complained about pisspoor security and were told by said management, to shut the fuck up and get back to coding and whatever else you IT people do down in that basement!

      0 0
  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    anon

    So, here's a bit of speculation.The anon guys aren't *that* malicious. They have what they wanted - angry people going after Sony, services disrupted and general chaos (LULZ!). It's damn video games anyway, although Sony stock owners and users probably disagree. The data might have been 'stolen', but for the sake of stealing it, not for use. Only a dick would go after the users and anonymous proved their point that Sony execs and engineers are a bunch of fools already.

    Now, anonymous is no real organization. It's more like a flash crowd. There are hackers in that crowd, probably responsible for the real hack, and a whole lot of random people with just a computer and the LOIC tool. It's people having a lot of fun and bringing down something they perceive as evil. I could tell you about the Scientology stuff, and how people had a lot of fun with it, prank calling the scientology centers, protesting, or just sitting around on IRC and talking about it. It was a LOT of fun, even for a bystander...

    In this case, I'd say it was a job well done.

    5 0
  25. KegRaider
    FAIL

    Now if my PC had stolen a SONY song....

    I'm more than certain that me blaming someone hacking in for stealing the song would NOT go down in a court of law. SONY are a$$holes and I can honestly say that I haven't bought a single product from them since the original 7801 Playstation. Nor will I in the future, they aren't worthy of my money.

    3 0
  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Damn it Sony.

    I tried to support your company through thick and thin. I mean I use and love Sony Vegas, but man, your really making it hard to justify continued support. I mean your literally pointing fingers everywhere now, the downside is the fascist police state in the USA will pick right up on it, and that something I do not support, because it doesn't just go away, it turns bad when the seeds of a plethora of HBGary's propagated and turned against the public. Buck up, patch your security. Encrypt your CC's and STFU.

    You screwed up with Audio CD's with rootkits, and I was silent. (even though I knew this was extremely bad)

    You screwed up with the PS2 and alternative OS's and I was silent. (I was never a gamer, and so I really didn't give a crap, but I can see how linux folks would be pissed off)

    But now your pointing to everyone as a terrorist threat basically.

    When the real threat was your piss poor security.

    Point to the IP that broke in or SHUT THE HELL UP WITH YOUR PROPAGANDA.

    If some new law is created because of your lobbying, I tell you right now, you'll never see another cent from me.

    7 1
  27. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    I've just added an "anonymous.txt" file to my hard drive

    There you go. Proof that it was them that downloaded any albums, movies or other illicit stuff that you may find on there, not me.

    10 0
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Oh yes...

      If it works for Sony then it must be ok for us too :)

      0 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Joke

      But, ummmmm....

      ..you posted as "Annonymous Coward".

      That would be YOUR txt file then.

      anon of course, oh no, now I'm implicated !

      1 0
  28. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    haha

    Prepare to lose your hard drives, twelve year olds!

    0 0
  29. Drefsab

    lol

    The PSN SEO hack was not part of any of the anon planned operations, you only have to have been keeping an eye on 4chan or anonops etc to see that at no point was it any concerted effort for this kind of thing.

    Is it possible that some skilled hacker seeing the DDoS decided he would do his own thing, sure. Is it possible that this random hacker decided hey I wont put my name to it I will claim to be anonymous again sure. Anyone can claim to be part of anonymous buy simply deciding at that moment to be part of it.

    Is it possible that they have no connection at all with anonymous, well again sure because there are plenty black hat groups or individual hackers out there. This person could well have decided he was working as part of Anonymous and left that file or he could have created it to throw the attention onto them just as easily.

    Is it really so far fetched to think that sony pissed off the global hacker community by their heavy handed treatment of graf_chokolo geohot and fail0verflow? Is it such a surprise that when you piss a lot of hackers off bad things happen from multiple fronts?

    Is it also hard to think about the fact just before all this happened over 200 of sony's online service staff were given the boot? Come into work one day to find a 2 week notice saying thanks but your about to be unemployed. These people armed with not only detailed insider knowledge but access to the compromised systems could easily have been a major factor even if it was only in divulging certain information.

    Sony's actions incurred a lot of illwill from hackers and their online services staff, my hart truely bleed for them that they got bitten over it.

    6 0
  30. dave 46
    FAIL

    Is it just me

    Or does anybody else find it surprising a company as large as Sony didn't have an information security officer before this?

    Seems it isn't just small business that ignores security until it's too late.

    1 0
  31. Elmer Phud
    Thumb Up

    No, I'm Spartacus!

    as title

    0 0
  32. Grubby
    Grenade

    Don't care who did it if I'm honest

    All people who hack / create viruses etc are sad losers. The fact they're doing it remotely should be ignored and they should be treated as if they where breaking and entering or committing criminal damage / theft.

    They're basically the geek equivalent of the annoying kids who stand drinking on the street corner, only they can't grow a beard to buy booze and have no friends to stand with so they sit at home trying to damage something someone else has made.

    I'm sorry you can't get a girlfriend, I'm sorry the other one still hasn't dropped, I'm sorry you got bullied at school and your best friend has a keyboard and mouse. But you don't live in the Matrix and despite what your World of Warcraft friends have told you, life is outside.

    3 6
    1. Doug Glass
      Reply Icon
      Go

      Basement dwelling ...

      ... DIY porn and pocket protectors do have their advantages.

      0 0
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Umm..

      You do know what a hacker is right?

      Guess not - please return to the Daily Mail.

      5 0
    3. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Well, Yes, Exactly

      "All people who hack / create viruses etc are sad losers. The fact they're doing it remotely should be ignored and they should be treated as if they where breaking and entering or committing criminal damage / theft."

      They're basically the poor equivalent of Sony.

      0 0
    4. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Well...

      I think if you put the Daily Mail down and took off the blinkers, you'd find a massive spread of different types out there "hacking" ( both in the in the Hollywood and true IT sense ). While quite a few I'm sure feel they are lashing out at a world that doesn't "get them", a larger number lead perfectly normal lives often doing far more fun and entertaining things with a healthy circle of real world friends and doing jobs for a living you'd never even think they would do, some not even remotely IT related.

      So why don't you just go away quietly until you've expanded your perception a little more, eh?

      0 0
  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Unfortunately...

    What they've found is one thing. What is proves is another.

    0 0
  34. Anonymous South African Coward Bronze badge
    Coat

    IT is starting to become a drag...

    No matter how good your security, there will be ways and means to find loopholes.

    I want out of IT. Preferably a job where I don't need to babysit winders servers anymore...

    1 0
    1. Doug Glass
      Reply Icon
      Go

      Then become ....

      ... a bean counter. Unlike He-Man, they have the power.

      0 0
  35. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    how bad, very bad

    From an IRC log of PS modders the previous week a sample of just how bad PSN security was, see http://173.255.232.215/logs/efnet/ps3dev/2011-02-16 an IRC log - especially 12:36:00 through 12:45:34

    0 0
  36. Doug Glass
    Go

    Sony implicates Anonymous in PlayStation Network hack

    And Sony is negligent and dastardly. What else is new?

    0 0
  37. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    WTF?

    "We are legion" could just mean that a Red Dwarf fan has been there.

    That'll narrow it down...

    1 0
  38. Judge Rico
    Flame

    Get things in perspective

    If my house was burgled and I had valuables stolen, sure I'd be a bit dim if I didn't have double locking doors or my wife's jewelry in a safe, but I wouldn't be the criminal.

    Sony may be a lot of things and upset quite a few people but ultimately these hackers got into the Sony systems ILLEGALLY. They STOLE information. They commited CRIMINAL acts.

    I don't see many people having a go at these hackers, these are the buggers with my private details!!!

    0 0
  39. John F***ing Stepp

    I think we need to establish a relief fund for the

    Early adopters.

    Those people that will jump into chancy ideas such as 'Sony has some security in place", the Canaries one discards at the bottom of the mineshaft, (they die for us, you know).

    We have to keep these people alive financially (but it should be like food stamps, can't have them spending what amounts to charity on video games and the like.)

    So who is with me on starting a fund for those people who gave Sony their credit card info?

    . . .

    . . .

    Why do I hear crickets?

    0 0
  40. doperative
    Alien

    Sony's technical analysis?

    Q: When did you become aware of the illegal and unauthorized intrusion?

    A: Sony .. detected .. that certain systems were re-booting when they were not scheduled to do so.

    http://pastebin.com/vQcdsm48

    0 0
  41. kns2c
    FAIL

    The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

    What a damning evidence. But I think Hirai's letter to the Congress would have been much more fun to read if the hackers left a file named "Superman". Or "Geronimo".

    0 0
  42. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    ...but Sony ARE dodgy

    "And Sony may be a**holes, calling them openly crminsal... uhh... criminal... is just not true. "

    - Anyone remember that time when Sony were turned down when they wanted to release the hit dance track 'Knights of the Jaguar'?

    They went on to recreate the song note by note and released it against the artists permission!! no contracts -- zilch!!

    http://detritus.net/contact/rumori/200001/0024.html

    0 0
  43. Anonymous Coward
    Megaphone

    AC cos I dont want a DDoS against me

    I've been watching the anon group for awhile now and hanging out in their IRC servers.

    Anonnews is operated by joepie91 and he's one of the main leaders with regards to laughing DDoS attacks. He updates the IRC channels that tell LOIC which websites should be attacked.

    If anyone would know if anon were really involved, it would be him. Although at the time of the attacks, he was admittedly telling the world that anon was not involved and banning anyone who used the word 'PSN' from the IRC server.

    Ironically (considering anons "free speech" motto) joepie91 is one of the most oppressive leaders of anon. Regularly banning anyone from the anon IRC servers and anonnews who point out a flaw in an operation or a reason why it shouldn't go ahead.

    Those who say anon don't have leaders are very much mistaken. The "anon" that the media know and love (or hate) and that launch most of the attacks are very much led by a handful of people. Joepie91 being one of them.

    He also has a sketch past of online scams before he got involved in Anon. Google: ryan.cleary@gmail.com scam

    0 0
  44. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Title

    We don't know who the attackers are and they claim to be Legion. Surely that's all they need to do to be Anonymous?

    There is no membership list for Anonymous yet the media keep talking about them like it's some organized group, even quoting supposed 'representatives' with twitter accounts.

    Anonymous is a name and persona anyone can adopt when causing grief and mischief for the lulz. It's that simple.

    0 0
  45. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    So a note left on Sony's network constitutes proof?

    I guess now that OBL is dead, we need a new terrorist scourge to shoot at! Sony may have been hacked by Anonymous, then again, maybe it was someone else. Anyone can leave a text file pointing at another party, especially when that other party has a gripe against Sony and is attacking their network at the same time as the theft.

    Sony should follow one of my favorite maxims from Japanese business--"Fix the problem, not the blame" and just move on. First step, secure your network and encrypt the user data. After that, if forensic computing can really implicate members of Anonymous, then wonderful, lock them up and throw away the key! Until then, lets not circulate stories about how the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot hacked the PSN.

    0 0
  46. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Rules 1 & 2 FAIL

    Don't they know they're meant to say eBaums did it?

    0 0
  47. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My Real Name is Title

    David did it.

    0 0
  48. The BigYin

    "I am in yur Internetz...

    ...stealin' yur Upload Codez.

    Ok Tnx bbye

    Teh CIA"

    See? I can do it too.

    0 0
  49. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    We are Legion?

    I believe the phrase is "I am Legion" (for we are many). So Anonymous aren't too bright on the literary side of things eh? No big surprise there.

    0 0
  50. Nick Wallis
    Flame

    Keep Up El Reg

    http://www.geek.com/articles/games/psn-was-running-on-unpatched-apache-server-with-no-firewall-2011055/

    With their past record Sony calling in security experts will achieve sweet FA

    0 0
    1. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Not quite

      Saying they are calling in the feds and some "experts", will keep the shareholders appeased while Sony USA tries it's hardest to limit the damage this cack is most likely doing to the share price.

      Remember in today's world it's all about the share price, nothing else matters, all praise the almighty dollar.

      0 0
  51. m6rk

    hAcK ThE pLanEt!!

    i'm sure this sounds like the plot of 'hackers'.. 22.8kpbs modem wow.. RISC will change everything...

    KATE

    Wait a minute, the fourteenth, that's the same

    day the worm ends its run. I mean... Da Vinci

    virus, didn't Phreak say that's what he was

    being charged with? Look...

    (quotes the memo)

    "Infecting ballast programs of Ellingson

    tankers" - they blame hackers!

    0 0
  52. Grubby
    Grenade

    'I Paid for it'

    You paid for the hardware, the software is licensed to you as long as you agree, and stick to there terms of use, which forbid changing it.

    If you think you can do better build yourself something from scratch, don't hack / rip off someone else's work under the deluded opinion you're improving it.

    Hackers are just programmers with no imagination, 'I can't think of something original so I'll steal it'.

    Annoyingly there are some people out there with amazing skills and they could do whatever they want but choose to destroy other peoples work instead and spoil it for everyone else.

    0 0
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