Playstation Network Down Globally

[Monseratto]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13169518

22 April 2011 Last updated at 15:34 GMT
Playstation Network suspended 'for day or two'

Millions of gamers are unable to play online as the Playstation Network remains unavailable.

Users are seeing error messages stating the network is "undergoing maintenance" or is "suspended".

In a blog post, makers Sony thanked users for their patience but warned the downtime - which has so far lasted more than 20 hours - could continue for "a day or two".

In recent weeks, Playstation has been targeted by hackers group Anonymous.

The group appeared to deny being responsible for the attack, releasing a message stating "for once we didn't do it".

The network has more than 70 million users worldwide, but Sony were unable to clarify how many players had been affected.

However, Twitter messages and blog posts have been posted from all over the world.

The problems have also affected other services running on the network. Film rental site LoveFilm confirmed to the BBC that their customers are currently unable to stream films when using the Playstation service.

This outage is the latest in a series of problems for the network which has suffered extended periods of downtime over the past few weeks.

In response, angry gamers have flooded blogs, forums and Twitter with complaints.

"A full day and you guys still have no clue what is causing this," wrote user Slickshoes in response to the company's blog post.

'Poor timing'

Another user, Max Smith, contacted the BBC to share his frustration that Sony is not keeping gamers better informed.

"To be honest I think that Sony need to give more updates towards the gamers via their Twitter account. There has been no update in the past 18 hours which is really making the community go crazy," he said.

Oli Welsh, from Eurogamer.net, said the outage is a big problem for Sony - especially at Easter.

"As much as the weather's lovely, a lot of gamers will be looking forward to tucking in to their favourite hobby this week.

"It's also a pretty big week for new releases, the biggest we've had in a couple of months. There's one really key game coming out called Portal 2 which has a great online mode that a lot of people now won't be able to access straight away.

"For gamers it's a shame, and for Sony it's a problem."

Anonymous, the group which gained notoriety over Wikileaks-related attacks, has previously strongly criticised the Japan-based entertainment giant over its treatment of George Hotz, an American hacker who unlocked the games console's closed operating system.

Sony filed a lawsuit against the 21-year-old, arguing that his hack had allowed pirated games to be played on the machine.

The case was dropped earlier this month after Mr Hotz agreed to sign an injunction banning him from similar behaviour in future.

A spokesperson for Sony was unavailable for comment.

[Monseratto]

Nakasimangot yung bro ko buong weekend. Di maka update ng rockband account...

Sony 'rebuilding' PlayStation Network after outage


NEW YORK (AP) -- Sony Corp. said it is rebuilding its PlayStation Network to bring it back online after an "external intrusion" caused it to suspend the service.

The company said it turned off the service, which lets gamers connect in live play, so that it could strengthen its network infrastructure. Qriocity -- the company's online entertainment platform -- was also affected.

"Though this task is time-consuming, we decided it was worth the time necessary to provide the system with additional security," the company said in a blog post Saturday. An email message to the company seeking further details was not immediately returned.

The PlayStation Network and Qriocity had been turned off Wednesday evening so that the company could investigate an external intrusion. The company said the following day that it could take a "full day or two" to get the service back up and running.

On Saturday, the company said in a blog post that it was "working around the clock" to bring the services back online.

"We thank you for your patience to date and ask for a little more while we move towards completion of this project," the company said in the post.

The outage came just after Tuesday's release of the game "Mortal Kombat," which is available on the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360. It also comes as Amazon.com restores computers used by other major websites as an outage stretched into a fourth day.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sony-r...51679.html?x=0

[tidus1203]

That's what you get when its free... Even when its fixed PSN is so laggy and very hard to connect. Sure Xbox Live is $50 a year but its way more reliable and way more consistent. Easier to connect and not very laggy...

[Monseratto]

One week on and still no PSN... The hacker attack looks bad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13192359

PlayStation hacker took user info

Sony has warned users of its PlayStation Network that their personal information, including credit card details, may have been stolen.

The company said that the data might have fallen into the hands of an "unauthorised person" following a hacking attack on its online service.

Access to the network was suspended last Wednesday, but Sony has only now revealed details of what happened.

Users are being warned to look out for attempted telephone and e-mail scams.

In a statement posted on the official PlayStation blog, Nick Caplin, the company's head of communications for Europe, said: "We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network".

The blog posting lists the personal information that Sony believes has been taken.

Name
Address (city, state/province, zip or postal code)
Country
E-mail address
Date of birth
PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and login
Handle/PSN online ID
Mr Caplin added: "It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained.

"For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information."

Credit cards

Sony admitted that credit card information, used to purchase games, films and music, may also have been stolen.

"While there is no evidence that credit card data was taken at this time, we cannot rule out the possibility," Mr Caplin said.

"If you have provided your credit card data through PlayStation Network or Qriocity, to be on the safe side we are advising you that your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may also have been obtained."

Sony has not given any indication of how many PlayStation Network users may have had their information taken, but the service has around 70 million members worldwide.

'PR Disaster'

The theft of so much detailed customer data would be seen as a "public relations disaster", according to Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security firm Sophos.

"This is a big one," he told BBC News.

"The PlayStation Network is a real consumer product. It is in lots of homes all over the world.

"The impact of this could be much greater than your typical internet hack."

Mr Cluley warned that, even without credit card details, the information taken was enough to help criminals carry out further attacks on other services.

"Some people will use the same passwords on other sites. If I was a hacker right now, I would be taking those e-mail addresses and trying those passwords," he said.

[Monseratto]

Phishing alert for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on XBOX 360.


http://support.xbox.com/en-gb/Pages/...ve-status.aspx

PSN users report credit card fraud, Xbox Live gets phishing alert
29 Apr 11 00:00 by wconeybeer

It hasn’t been a good week for online gamers.

As reports are beginning to flood the internet about credit card theft which may be associated with the recent Sony PlayStation Network security breach, Microsoft has issued an alert to Xbox Live subscribers regarding phishing attempts directed at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players.

“About two or three days ago, my bank notified me that I had gotten my own [credit card information] stolen, the one I use for my PSN account, and with it a ticket was purchased through a German airline for nearly $600,” one Ars Technica reader reported to the site. “They are still looking into the fraud charge meaning that right now I have a negative $500 in my account, with no good chance that I’ll be getting that back any time soon.”

“I also had an attempted fraudulent charge on my American Express card, about $8,000 going to some Japanese store. This all happened about when PSN started having trouble, so I’m betting this had something to do with it,” another wrote. “My advice: if you have your credit card info on PSN, watch your accounts like a hawk. I’m buying pre-paid cards from now on; you know, if I decide to ever spend money on PSN again.”
But despite the credit card fraud reports from PSN users around the world, Sony maintains that “all credit card information stored in our systems is encrypted and there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken.”

Meanwhile, some Xbox Live subscribers have some fraud issues of their own to deal with.
On Thursday, Xbox support issued a Service Alert stating that “users may receive potential phishing attempts via title specific messaging while playing Modern Warfare 2.” Infinity Ward Creative Strategist Robert Bowling assured players via Twitter that a patch to fix the issue would be released soon.

While the Xbox Live issues are nowhere near the extent of the still-unfolding Sony PS3 PSN breach, the situation serves as a reminder to be cautious no matter which game console you favor.

[Monseratto]

Issue getting bigger, FBI now involved... Main PSN services still down.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/04/fbi...investigation/

FBI Cybercrimes Joins 22 US States In Sweeping PSN Investigation
By Brian Crecente on April 29, 2011 at 9:30 AM

The Federal Bureau of Investigations today confirmed to Kotaku that it is looking into the security breach that brought the Playstation Network down and exposed millions of users’ personal data to cybercriminals.

The FBI is joined by nearly two dozen state attorneys general and possibly the Federal Trade Commission who are looking into this month’s Playstation Network hack attack which forced Sony to take their PS3 online service offline for more than a week.

Sony told Kotaku that they reported the security breach to the FBI’s cybercrimes unit in San Diego. Contacted Thursday, an FBI spokesman confirmed that they were looking into the reports.

“The FBI is aware of the reports concerning the alleged intrusion into the Sony on line game server and we have been in contact with Sony concerning this matter,” said FBI special agent Darrell Foxworth. “We are presently reviewing the available information in an effort to determine the facts and circumstances concerning this alleged criminal activity.”

Meanwhile attorneys general from 22 US states are demanding answers from Sony over the breach, asking why it took the company so long to alert customers to the attack.

That group of state attorneys general are sharing information with one another about their individual inquiries, Susan Kinsman, communications director for the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General told Kotaku.

The collection of attorneys general have also contacted the Federal Trade Commission to see if they have launched their own federal investigation, she said.

The Federal Trade Commission could have jurisdiction in a case involving loss of customer data through a security breach, FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell told Kotaku. But the FTC does not discuss or confirm ongoing investigations.

Kinsman also declined to say whether the FTC has launched their own investigation.

“A call has been made to the FTC and there will be discussions, but I can’t comment on whether the FTC is investigating,” she said.

While Kinsman was able to confirm that attorneys general from at least 22 states were looking into the Sony breach and how it might affect consumers in their states, she declined to say which states that included.

Connecticut’s own attorney general sent a letter to Sony Computer Entertainment of America President and CEO Jack Tretton on Wednesday. The letter demanded answers to a number of questions including what data was stolen, who was responsible, how long the company knew and what was being done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“The fact that sensitive information was apparently accessed without authorization makes me especially concerned about the possibility of financial fraud and targeted phishing scams,” Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen wrote. “What is more troubling is Sony’s apparent failure to promptly and adequately notify affected individuals of this large-scale breach.”

The letter goes on to outline a baker’s dozen questions.

Kinsman said the letter was sent out Wednesday and that the office has not yet heard anything back from SCEA.

Sony officials told Kotaku that it wasn’t until Monday, after an outside security group conducted an extensive investigation, that they realised customer data had been stolen. That data included names, passwords and other identifying information. Sony doesn’t believe credit card numbers were stolen. If it was, that data is also encrypted when it is stored, they said.

Anyone with information concerning the breach is asked to contact the FBI at 858-565-1255 or 1-877-EZ-2-TELL. Cyber tips may be e-mailed to the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

[foresterx]

That's what you get when its free... Even when its fixed PSN is so laggy and very hard to connect. Sure Xbox Live is $50 a year but its way more reliable and way more consistent. Easier to connect and not very laggy...

i agree with this, that's why i use xbox for online gaming. i haven't used my ps3 for a while now inaalikabok na nga eh. $50 a year for a much better online gaming is worth it, unlike PSN which disconnects me in the middle of a game most of the time.

[tidus1203]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FKkWo8KrKc&feature=related"]YouTube - Hitler rants about PSN being hacked[/ame]

Hitler got mad!

Hehe I already played Portal 2 online on Xbox! Suck that Hitler!

[Monseratto]

Hmmm...using a legit server to hack into the Playstation Network.

Amazon EC2 used as proxy in PSN hacks
updated 07:15 am EDT, Sat May 14, 2011


Amazon’s EC2 cloud-based rental server service is reported to have been utilized as a proxy in the Sony PlayStation Network hacks. According to Bloomberg, a person with knowledge of the matter has revealed that the hackers used an alias to rent an Amazon EC2 server and used it as the staging point for the attack. The person said that Amazon has closed the account used for the hack.

The strategy that the hackers used to rent, or even hijack, a server is one that is often used by sophisticated cyber-criminals. As server farms become commonplace, the ability for hackers to misdirect investigators has become easier. When asked for comment, Sony’s Patrick Seybold said, “We’re continuing to work with law enforcement in an ongoing investigation into the situation. As such, we will not comment further on this matter.”

Security experts believe that the FBI is likely to issue a subpoena to Amazon in order to conduct a forensic examination of the account the hackers used and to conduct a search of the affected Amazon server.

Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles...#ixzz1MViZFSnQ

[Monseratto]

Es*** geek Ryan Cleary 'is Sony hacker’ | The Sun |News

A NERDY teenager was arrested yesterday on suspicion of masterminding a global computer hacking operation from his bedroom.
Oddball student Ryan Cleary, 19, was held by cops who swooped on his mum's home in Wickford, Es***.

He is thought to be a leader of LulzSec, a group claiming responsibility for hacking into Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency and the US Senate.

Geeky Cleary is also suspected of being the brains behind hacking raids on computer game giants Sony and Nintendo - and America's CIA secret service.

He allegedly did it all behind the closed curtains of his bedroom at his mum's extended bungalow. And a computer expert said last night: "It's the true nature of the internet that Wickford could be the centre of a global hacking movement."

Reclusive Cleary was arrested by cops yesterday in a "pre-planned intelligence-led operation".

The swoop was part of a joint investigation by Scotland Yard and the FBI.

American authorities were kept informed. And Cleary - said to be "very bright" - could eventually face extradition to the US.

Detectives believe he is a "major player" with LulzSec, a hackers' group which claimed responsibility for the theft of 77million Sony PlayStation customers' names, addresses, bank details and passwords.

The organisation - said to have links with the notorious WikiLeaks whistleblowers - is a splinter group of Anonymous, which last year launched digital assaults on MasterCard and PayPal.

LulzSec is believed to have initially targeted only gaming firms and US broadcasters including PBS and Fox.

The group cracked a cult computer joke after invading PBS, writing "All your base are belong to LulzSec" across its website above the hackers' moustachioed toff logo.

But on Twitter, it recently declared its intention to break into government websites and leak confidential documents. And claims it has lifted the entire 2011 UK census database are being probed.

Cleary, a heavy metal fan who has been thrown out of two schools for disruptive behaviour, was arrested by officers from Scotland Yard's specialist e-crime unit.

They took him in after quizzing him for five hours at the £330,000 home he shares with mum Rita, 45.

Police sources said a "mind-boggling amount of information" had been seized from one of the nerdy lad's two computers.

They added the swoop was just the start of what could be a "long and complex" inquiry - and further arrests were possible.

Last night it emerged Cleary's identity may have been blown by rival hackers who published his name, address and mobile number on the web earlier this month.

Stunned Rita, a nurse at Southend Hospital, said her son "lives his life online".

She told how he has a history of mental illness and suffers from agoraphobia, a fear of open spaces, but is highly intelligent. Rita added that she thought he was playing computer games in his bedroom and cannot believe he was hacking into security agency websites.

The mum said cops had talked to Cleary in "computer speak" and she could not understand the discussion.

Journalist James Nixon, who interviewed Cleary last month for technology website Thinq, said: "He's in a bit of a bubble. He is very much aware of the power that he has in his hands but not necessarily the repercussions."

Cleary's half-brother Mitchell, 22, said: "Ryan is obsessed with computers. He's a bit of a geek. That's all he does - he's a recluse. He locks himself in his room every day, closes the curtains and spends hours at a time online.

"He isn't into football or sports. Computers are everything to him. I barely see him. My mum is finding this extremely hard."

Mitchell added: "Ryan used to be part of WikiLeaks. He has upset someone doing that and they made a Facebook page having a go at him."

Cleary, who has a company named Arcusvoice registered in his name, was being questioned at a central London police station last night under computer misuse and fraud laws.

His father Neil, 44, is separated from his mum. The dad is thought to teach music in Peterborough, Cambs, and once worked on hit West End musical Starlight Express.

Computer security experts said Cleary's arrest is a coup for police if he is the mastermind of LulzSec. Graham Cluley, of anti-virus firm Sophos, said: "The hacker has been bloodying the nose of computer crime authorities around the world.

"But we don't know if it is one person behind LulzSec or a group."

Rik Ferguson, a security adviser at software makers Trend Micro, said: "If you have the skills you can make a name for yourself in very much the wrong way.

"Hackers have been doing it to spark chaos and for their idea of fun. But then they demonstrated a willingness to release personal information and that put people at risk. So it was not all about fun."

No messages were posted on LulzSec's Twitter account for ten hours after Cleary's arrest. Then as worldwide speculation grew about him being a lone wolf, a user came online to taunt: "Seems the glorious leader of LulzSec got arrested, it's all over now... wait... we're all still here! Which poor b*****d did they take down?"

Later, addressing law enforcement "clowns," the group insisted Cleary was a scapegoat. They said he is NOT a member and they merely use his computer server to house a legitimate chatroom.

The case prompted comparisons with that of another Briton, 45-year-old Gary McKinnon. He is wanted in the US for allegedly hacking into Pentagon and Nasa computers while searching for evidence of aliens. He faces 60 years in jail if he is extradited and convicted.

- DO you know Ryan Cleary? Call The Sun on 020 7782 4104 or email exclusive*the-sun.co.uk

Es*** geek Ryan Cleary 'is Sony hacker’ | The Sun |News

[niky]

Moral of the story? Hack all you want, but don't threaten to f*** with the government, or they'll hunt your ass down.

I hope he gets what's coming to him.

[safeorigin]

According to anon, he was dropped months ago from the organization after leaking personal information of its members and taking over anonops IRC channel. karma niya iyan for doublecrossing fellow hackers

[Monseratto]

Apparently what the authorites got was a IRC server operator. It's the logged IP addresses in his computer that is interesting... kawawa ka na if your IP address is among that, expect a visit from the feds.

LulzSec Takes Hit, Keeps On Hacking -- InformationWeek

LulzSec said the person arrested by British police, named by authorities on Wednesday as Ryan Cleary, ran a server on which one of LulzSec's many chat rooms had been hosted. "Clearly the UK police are so desperate to catch us that they've gone and arrested someone who is, at best, mildly associated with us. Lame," said the group via Twitter.

If authorities are closing in on LulzSec, the group doesn't appear to be backing off. On Wednesday, the group released, via Pastebin, contact information for what it said were two people who tried to snitch on LulzSec by "leaking some of our affiliates' logs." LulzSec alleged that the two people--named as Marshal Webb and Michael Dean Major--had orchestrated last month's hack and defacement of the Eidos Montreal website. In that attack, hackers reportedly stole information on at least 80,000 users of the company's Deus Ex: Human Revolution game.

LulzSec also warned that there had been a rash of Pastebin posts purposing to be from the group, such as the announcement that LulzSec planned to release a complete copy of the U.K. 2011 census data. "That wasn't us--don't believe fake LulzSec releases unless we put out a tweet first," the group said via its Twitter feed.

Are law enforcement agencies close to unmasking LulzSec? While British police did bust Cleary, aka "ViraL," he had already been publicly named--in anonymous Pastebin posts released last month--as someone who interacted with LulzSec members via IRC. Some posts also alleged that he was a "4chan DDoS attacker," referring to the freewheeling 4chan forum and imageboard in which all members are supposed to be anonymous.

Cleary was also mentioned in multiple tweets earlier this month from Twitter user Power2All. Those messages warned LulzSec via Twitter to "avoid and ignore lulzco IRC net, your IP will be compromised by Ryan Cleary." According to Power2All, Cleary's server logged IP addresses and leaked them to the Internet.

In the wake of Tuesday's arrest of Cleary, a post on the anti-LulzSec blog "LulzSec Exposed" also said that Cleary was "just an IRC operator" for LulzSec, and that the group's leader went by the handle of Sabu. It also said that the arrest of Cleary would give law enforcement agencies a leg up on LulzSec. "Bad news for LulzSec, count your days as we count your heads," said a blog post on LulzSec Exposed. "As Ryan is arrested, your IRC irc.lulzco.org logs are with FBI, SOCA and Interpol."

The group also alleged that LulzSec members, having been exposed, were starting to flee, and that the group's joint operations with Anonymous are a ploy to keep the LulzSec brand going. "They also want to keep the legacy of Lulzsec even after their arrests by recruiting new people ... to continue it and create havoc among security companies."

Also on Wednesday, LulzSec Exposed named Power2All, the admin for the Anonymous IRC channel (Anonops), as Netherlands-based PHP programmer Jasper Lingers. But a message via the Power2All Twitter feed fired back, "I am not lulzsec, neither anonymous. AnonOps is a platform to chat on ... Nothing illegal about a chat server."

[safeorigin]

I wonder though if they'll find out that the IP addresses are actually proxies.

scratch that. they just raided DigitalOne. hehe naka proxy nga

[Monseratto]

Yeah, thay hauled of the entire server...

The FBI launched a raid against ISP company DigitalOne's servers Tuesday morning in an attempt to catch LulzSec. Digital One had already complied with these agencies in identifying which servers hosted the IP address they were after. The raiders took several enclosures of servers, rather than the servers. The confusion apparently came from DigitalOne's use of a blade system, in which multiple servers are stored on a single Chasis. Even accounting for this confusion, the question remains: why confiscate the server?

If the FBI wanted to prevent its usage, they've failed. The server could be copied and replaced overnight with no harm. If the FBI wanted the data on the server, they could have asked for a copy. If the FBI wanted to monitor traffic, they could have inserted any number of digital surveilance programs. Instead, they decide to take the server. Is this a new bugdet-cutting initiative?

And all of this nonsensical action in order to catch LulzSec. As the New York Times reports:

A government official who declined to be named said earlier in the day that the F.B.I. was actively investigating the Lulz Security group and any affiliated hackers. The official said the F.B.I. had teamed up with other agencies in this effort, including the Central Intelligence Agency and cybercrime bureaus in Europe.

So the CIA, the FBI, and some European cybercrime bureaus walk into a bar at 1am. They confiscate the fine wine that LulzSec sipped a week ago, along with all of the wine in the bar, putting it out of business for three days because LulzSec may or may not have been there.

This is what Sun Tzu calls Supreme Excellence.

And before assuming 'necessary evil,' readers should note that the collateral from the FBI's actions has affected over 100 companies, making them more dangerous to the public in their pursuit of LulzSec than LulzSec has been in its entire existence

Continue reading on Examiner.com FBI LulzSec server takedown fails - National Anonymous | Examiner.com FBI LulzSec server takedown fails - National Anonymous | Examiner.com

[Monseratto]

Yeah, thay hauled off the server hardware...

Early Tuesday morning, the FBI raided a data center in Reston, Virginia and seized servers, causing several high-profile Web sites to go dark.

According to a New York Times report, the FBI showed up at the data center, owned by Switzerland-based DigitalOne, around 1:15am and removed the equipment. The move resulted in services like Pinboard, Instapaper, and the Curbed Network going offline.

DigitalOne chief Sergej Ostroumow sent an email to clients on Tuesday that said FBI took "3 enclosures with equipment plugged into them, possibly including your server—we cannot check it," the Times reported. The seizure affected "tens of clients," Ostroumow said.

"Sorry for the continued slow site performance from yesterday's server loss. The replacement server has been delivered and I'm setting it up," Instapaper tweeted earlier today.

The company said it was arranging to replace the blocked database with a new server.

Earlier today, Pinboard said service has stabilized, and its API was back on. Some archive links, search, global tag pages, RSS, tag clouds, and user stats were still offline.

"DigitalOne has confirmed that our server was one of the ones taken during the FBI raid. I have no reason to believe it had anything to do with us, but unfortunately these blade servers pack many to a single box," Pinboard said.

The Curbed Network is back online. "We're back! With some glitches, but our tech team's working to restore everything," the company said in a tweet that pointed to the Times article as an explanation.

The FBI has not commented on the raid, and it's unclear if it's at all related to recent hacks committed by groups like LulzSec and Anonymous. Earlier this year, the FBI said it executed more than 40 search warrants throughout the U.S. related to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks organized by Anonymous.

During an April appearance before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, Gordon M. Snow, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, said "our cyber adversaries' capabilities are at an all-time high," and pointed to the activities of Anonymous as one example.

FBI Seizes Servers, Prompting Site Outages | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

[safeorigin]

Hackers aren't that stupid to leave a trace that's why they use proxies. Seemingly innocent servers but once they gain access to them, they can be used as beach heads when performing DDoS attacks. Typically, they'll use lots of proxies to take down the target by overwhelming them with processes. But like they said, that's not yet the worse they can do. If they decided to use Brute Force attacks, again utilizing proxies to do the bulk of the attacks, they can access databases by cracking passwords( brute force means spitting out random combinations until you get it right. although this consumes a lot of processing power and time, depending on the target's degree of encryption, through utilizing multiple proxies and simultaneous attacks by different users, they'll get the results they wanted. Remember, these guys are very organized despite their apparent informality.

[LeBRONghini6]

Up na ulit ang PS3 since last last week pa. And may free na 5 downloadable games agad. Online in PS3 is IMO great but sometimes laggy. Depende nalang sa connection mo basta pag nag UNCHARTED 2 naman ok walang lag. Lag minsan pag sa 2k11.

[safeorigin]

Hehehe, blackhats vs. blackhats

malaki talaga grudge sa isa't isa

As reported earlier, a vigilante band of hackers known as the Web Ninjas revealed its mission to expose the members of LulzSec and see that they were behind bars. They reportedly succeeded in retrieving the hacker handles of LulzSec members, including lesser members like "neuron" and "Redacted," and also critical members such as "Topiary" and "Sabu." LulzSec retaliated by "doxing" (or rooting out) the very person who leaked the information to the Web Ninjas.

"This is Marshal Webb, also known as "[redacted]" in the "#pure-elite" IRC logs you no doubt have enjoyed," the group wrote to the FBI. "He was involved in the hacking of the game "Dues Ex" (sic) and was/is involved in countless other cybercrimes. Also, he tried to snitch on us. Therefore we just did your job for you with great ease. This moron is trying to flee the country in order to avoid serious punishment. Hunt him down... "

Hacking group TeamPoison has also claimed LulzSec blood by acquiring the names, addresses and pictures of the LulzSec team. "No matter how many bots you gather, no matter how much people you lie to, no matter how much pre-made tools you use, you will _NEVER_ represent the real hacking scene, we warned you, we told you we do not make empty threats, we gave u 48hrs to secure your ircs yet u failed to do so."

AnonOps Communications

[Monseratto]

Nagpapalamig muna...or are they seeking greener pastures?

LulzSec Shutting Down After 50-Day Hacking Spree | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
Hacker group LulzSec on Saturday announced that it is shutting down operations, but called on supporters to continue fighting its anti-government movement via a similar group, Anonymous.

"For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could," LulzSec wrote in a note posted on Pastebin.

The group, however, insisted that "we are not tied to this identity permanently," saying that "behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people."

Despite the sometimes childish antics, "we truly believe in the AntiSec movement," the group said. Recently, LulzSec joined forces with Anonymous to for Operation Anti-Security, which targeted the Web sites and databases of governments with which it disagreed.

"We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us," LulzSec continued. "The support we've gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don't stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve."

The group concluded by saying that it was a "crew of six," but revealed nothing else about its identity or future plans. On Twitter, LulzSec encouraged "all future #AntiSec enthusiasts to join the AnonOps IRC here ... and follow *AnonymousIRC for glory."

While LulzSec insisted it was on a "planned 50 day cruise," might it be calling things off to evade capture? Most recently, LulzSec released hundreds of documents relating to Arizona law enforcement, prompting concern that the data dump might compromise officers in undercover and other sensistive roles. That resulted in speculation that LulzSec's days might be numbered.

Recently, a 19-year-old English man was arrested and charged for several hacks done by Anonymous and LulzSec; LulzSec, however, denied that the man, Ryan Cleary, was a formal part of its group.