If at any point yesterday you looked to duck away from your family and get some quality time in with your favorite console, you were likely very disappointed to find that both the Playstation and Xbox Live networks were down. This was no random error, as it turns out; the hacker group Lizard Squad had deliberately taken both down:
Xbox Live #offline
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) December 25, 2014
PSN #offline
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) December 25, 2014
Everything's staying down, even if we get suspended. Winning the battle is not the same as winning the war. @FinestSquad
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) December 25, 2014
Nintendo for life
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) December 25, 2014
Both services remained down until an unlikely hero emerged: Kim Dotcom. The now-broke MegaUpload founder DM’d with the group and came to terms on a deal, sending them vouchers to Mega in exchange for their ceasing the attack:
A Christmas Miracle. How @MegaPrivacy saved @Xbox & @PlayStation from the @LizardMafia attack. Enjoy your games! :-) pic.twitter.com/qoaZ33eqCi
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 26, 2014
Attacks were stopped around 2 hours ago, the current downtime is just the aftermath.
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) December 26, 2014
Thanks @KimDotcom for the vouchers--you're the reason we stopped the attacks. @MegaPrivacy is an awesome service.
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) December 26, 2014
And for now, all gamers can breathe a sigh of relief. Hacking does seem to be all the rage right now, however, and Sony certainly is taking the brunt of the beating.
[via engadget]