USA Today – by Mike SniderIf all you want for Christmas is some online video gaming, you may feel like you got coal in your stocking.
Online game networks Xbox Live and PlayStation Network were knocked offline much of Christmas Day in an apparent DDos (distributed denial of service) attack.
Taking credit for the takedown: a group called Lizard Squad, which previously claimed credit for August attacks on the PlayStation Network and online games World of Warcraft and League of Legends.
Both networks were still having problems Friday morning. The network status Web page for Xbox Live showed service as being back up but “limited,” while PSN was still officially offline.
It caps off a rough holiday season for Sony, which saw its Sony Pictures subsidiary hit by a cyber-attack last month over the upcoming release of The Interview. A hacker group called the Guardians of Peace threatened a 9/11 type attack on theaters if the movie was shown.
Sony opted to pull the film after U.S. authorities determined North Korea was behind the cyber-attack. But the studio changed its plan and began making the movie available to independent theaters on Christmas Day.
The film can also be purchased and rented online via YouTube and other sites and services. Among those: Xbox Live.
We're aware that some users are having issues logging into PSN – engineers are investigating
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) December 25, 2014
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2014/12/25/xbox-live-playstation-network-hack/20895113/
My computer is NEVER used for games of ANY kind.
No time to play games.