Hackers kill Christmas for online gamers playing Sony PlayStation and Xbox Live
They came, they saw and they killed off connection for Microsoft Corp’s Xbox Live and Sony Corp’s PlayStation Networks online games.
A hacker group has claimed responsibility for user connection problems that gamers suffered on Christmas Day.
The group, called Lizard Squad, could not be reached for comment, and the affected companies did not give a reason for the connectivity issues.
The group's Twitter site said: “I have the nation on strings.”
It also said it would put the sites back online if enough people retweeted its messages.
Both companies expected heavy usage as people who received Microsoft Xbox players or Sony PlayStations on Christmas tried to hook up.
But Sony’s decision to let consumers download the controversial movie The Interview through Xbox Video as well as other online sources may have worsened the problems.
“Are you having a rough time signing in to Xbox Live?,” a service alert on the Microsoft product’s website asked.
“We’re working to get this figured out right away. We appreciate your patience.”
Two hours after the message was posted, the Xbox Live site said technicians were still “hard at work trying to reach a solution.”
PlayStation Network’s status page said:
“We are aware that some users are experiencing difficulty logging into the PSN.
“We will update this article with any changes that occur in regards to this issue. Thank you for your patience.”
Three Xbox platforms were affected by the service problem: Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Xbox on other devices, Microsoft’s status website said.
Photos: AFP
Gamers vented their disappointment at the outage on - where else - social media.
Earlier on Thursday, Microsoft Xbox spokesman Sean McCarthy declined to give details of how the company is preparing for security breaches.
“Of course, it’s safe to say Holiday season is always a very busy time of year for any consumer electronics company, so we work hard to ensure the stability of our infrastructure when so many consoles are activating for the first time.” - Reuters
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