Following the Christmas attacks against Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, it appears as if the FBI is getting involved with the hackers responsible for the attacks. This could spell bad news for the kids who ruined Christmas for Xbox and PlayStation owners.
The hacking group used denial of service attacks, often called DDoS attacks, to bring down both Xbox Live and PSN. The attack lasted throughout most of the holiday break, leading to a lot of frustrated gamers and plenty of tears being spilled.
Well, the actions of the group behind the attacks may have consequences. According to Venture Beat, the FBI is investigating.
In a statement to Games Beat, an FBI representative stated...
“The FBI is investigating the matter,”...“Given the pending nature of the case, we cannot comment further.”
That's usually how these kind of cases go. Most authorities won't comment on the details of an ongoing investigation. However, this isn't the first time the FBI was called in to investigate this very same group.
Some of you might remember that back in August the FBI was called in to investigate after bomb threats against a plane were sent out; the president of Sony Online Entertainment happened to be on the plane.
Nothing really came out of the investigation at the time, or if it did we never heard about it. It appears as if the FBI is back it again, diving into the thick of it to uncover some kind of wrongdoing by the group responsible for bringing down both Xbox Live and PSN over the course of the holidays.
In fact, before Xbox Live and PSN went down this latest time there was a warning sent out that both services would be attacked during Christmas. However, Sony and Microsoft were ill-prepared for the attacks.
Some companies have ventured to explain why some services can never be completely immune to DDoS attacks, but it seems strange that mega-corporations can be held ransom at any time by a random group of enthusiasts sending out organized DDoS attacks.
The group behind the attack recently laid out their reasons as to why they went after Sony and Microsoft. However, the interview itself received a lot of criticism from gamers who felt as if the news media was giving and platform and voice to the hackers, as well as encouraging trolls by keeping them in the headlines.
Matters were made worse when Mega owner Kim Dotcom offered the group lifetime passes to his service if they would just stop attacking Xbox Live and PSN. This move also caught the ire of the gaming community because many felt as if the hackers were being rewarded; negotiating with terrorists, in a way.
The real question is if the FBI will do anything about the issue this time around? Simply stating that they're investigating could mean they looked into it, counted the costs and felt it wasn't worth pursuing. Obviously the attacks back in August didn't warrant any further action, so we'll see if the holiday outing will get some kind of justice handed out against the hackers.
