PlayStation Network hackers cite ‘ISIS’ link via gloating tweets
Individuals claiming to be linked with terror group ISIS have claimed responsibility for a weekend cyber-attack on Sony’s PlayStation Network, which led to the service being taken offline.
Following the incidents a group calling themselves the Lizard Squad appeared on social media to claim responsibility for the attack before issuing a follow-up bomb threat to an American Airlines flight on which Sony president John Smedley was flying, forcing it to divert.
.@AmericanAir We have been receiving reports that @j_smedley's plane #362 from DFW to SAN has explosives on-board, please look into this.
— Lizard Squad (@LizardSquad) August 24, 2014
The threats were issued via an @LizardSquad Twitter account and are currently being investigated by the FBI over claims the hack was conducted on behalf of the Islamic State in retaliation for US airstrikes against it in Iraq.
Sony’s servers were hit by a form of attack known as distributed denial of service, in which large amounts of fake traffic are directed at a target in a bid to overwhelm it, taking the service offline.
The PlayStation Network was back online by Monday evening.