Hackers say Anonymous was responsible for Sony attack

@berghes
Hacking isn't some mystical procedure that requires sacrifices of thousands to appease the gods of the internet to summon the arch-demon Pwnzors.

It's people testing thoroughly a security system until you find a flaw. It's VERY rarely the act of many. Couple years ago there was a security test on the whole US network, this was done by 20 hired hackers, these guys got through everything and has access to things they shouldn't that could have affected IRL lives. 20 people. The whole US network including power plants, hospitals and certain military bases. They got to the point where they rendered it impossible for the pentagon to deploy troops by crashing the system in place used to send presidential orders.

Now look at history, most case of hacking that caused damage was done by 1 or 2 people. It only takes one smart person that dug deep enough to find a hole. What does a man do when he finds a hole? He puts his shlong in it.

BTW, experts returned with infos of the PSN servers. Outdated Apache servers with no firewalls.

@Icemasta
Regarding what the experts had to say, the jury is still out as to how accurate that is or what impact it actually had. Remember that the info was given by someone stating that he'd read it on forums. In other words, it was basically hearsay.

A little common sense goes a long ways here. Sony is a huge target. Not only do they have a massive customer database but they also have a remarkably high number of people with long-standing grudges against them. (Just bring up NGE sometime if you want to start a circus!)

Given how tempting of a target they are to both the larcenous types and anyone with a grudge, it seems to me that if their security was really as lax as everyone is making it out to be, this data theft would have happened a LONG time ago. The fact that it did not - to say nothing of the fact that it purportedly required a sophisticated attack to pull it off -- should speak volumes.

I am very interested in seeing what the actual investigations conclude once they're complete. Of course this is the 21st century so a forum, blog or Wiki page is all the proof most people seem to need anymore. :p

@aurickle
NGEEE!!! GAAAAH!!11 I SO WANNA HAX SONY!!!°^1 oh wait....

@Icemasta I understand what your saying but still...I thought that in it would require a little more "man power" to take hack those servers.

@berghes
Historically, hacks and data thefts are done by only one or two people. It's brute force or Denial of Service attacks that take lots of power and that's not what happened here. Even with those, it's still not many people; just lots of zombie machines.

Also, the fact that only a couple people were involved in the successful attack doesn't mean that a slew of others haven't made attempts of various kinds. For the reasons I mentioned above, it's actually quite likely that Sony's servers have been under regular attack by many different hackers before this. So in that sense it has taken more than a couple. Sort of like sperm... millions try, but it only takes one to succeed. :p

@(Unverified)

I've been wary ever since they were accused of an attack on a epilepsy support site. If I remember they accused scientologists. Although in my mind I can see members of anonymous behind such actions. Not the whole group, but individuals. The lack of any control or responsibilty with the organization doesn't help them.

@(Unverified)

I just don't see how it is in any way good, if close to 25 million people are unable to play their game. There are all kinds of people affected, not just teens and kidz having fun, but hard working parents who need to catch a little break now and then, mentally and physically disabled people who use the games as a social outlet - all kinds of people. So who are these "2 or 3 guys" to do that, eh?

@(Unverified) Just because the haven't brought them in yet doesn't mean they don't know where they are....One thing I have learned, Intelligence agencies are very patient and unrelenting.

Just ask Osama

@Dunraven It doesn't really work that way. the statement the guy made is self contradictory, saying it was anonymous, if you do it anonymously doesn't mean anything, When people talk about Anonymous in this context, it means the group, which is a loose term anyway, as anonymous really is just a load of people ****ing around on the internet for fun. every now and then some idiot takes it all too seriously and does something like this, it's not 'anonymous' it's someone whom is acting anonymously. the collective aren't behind it as it'd have to be an activity the group as a whole could actively engage in. due to the nature of the collective, you can't bring the thousands of them all up on trial, it's ridiculous to try.

you can of course, catch the one or two people whom did this, if it is even anon, which I still doubt.

@Azules

exactly. the concept is "Anonymous" is just another troll. it always has been. the majority of people that label themselves "Anonymous" are on ebaums world, something awful, or the chan's trading porn gif's, and trying for epic combo's. a great majority of them wouldn't even know how to install ram in their machine.

there is always the one or two regular users of those boards/forums that know how to do anything. and the rest of the kid's latch on to their (for a lack of a better word) nut's whenever they do something like this. that doesn't make the people that had no hand, or knowledge the hack guilty of a crime.

@Laephis

Pretty much anyone can claim to be a part of Anon, as long as you are anonymous. It's kind of a double-edged sword with the group.

There is supposedly a core group within Anon itself, and that is likely the one who released both the statement of halting further attacks, as well as the latter one that said they had no part in it.

And again, Anonymous would of been bragging if they had actually done it.

@DevilSei There's no 'core group' or anything, I swear people actually believe they're a supervillain conglomerate or something. The whole dynamic works as there is no leader, no chain of command, it's randomly driven mob mentality, and it's pretty funny to watch unfold at times, it's interesting how certain people can speak up, and drive the efforts of the legion to one particular end, and then be completely ignored, that's the nature of anonymity, you don't earn badges of honor.

@Azules

Did I accuse the core group I was referencing as a "supervillain conglomerate"? No, so don't even start trying to twist words with me.
Did I say it existed? No, I said supposedly, as in rumored, in case you don't know what it meant.

All I DID say, in case you weren't aware, is that if there was some core group behind the first attack on Sony that Anon apologized for, they were likely the ones who issued it, and latter denied having any part in the actual taking down and assault on personal information that was the 2nd attack.

I know what Anon is, which is also why I said they'd of most likely been bragging about it, as they have with a large chunk of everything else they've done.

@DevilSei Wasn't meaning to be offensive, I wasn't implying you said they were the illuminati or whatever, it's just that everyone is kind of overstating what they are, and your comment again mirrored that sort of thing to an extent, wasn't meaning to call you out or anything, relax =D