Sony confirms hackers are responsible for PlayStation Network outage

Sony have posted an update to their European PlayStation blog confirming that hackers are to blame for the on-going PlayStation Network (PSN) outage. The outage, which is affecting 70 million PlayStation and PSP users, has disrupted game-play and various media features like music and movie streaming on the network since Wednesday evening.

Yesterday we speculated on the possibility that the outage may be linked to recent internet attacks on Sony which has now been confirmed. Blog manager James Gallagher explains how an “external intrusion” on the system had caused the outage of PSN and Sony Qriocity music streaming services.

Sony stress that they themselves had taken the network offline on Wednesday evening as a precautionary measure and to “conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward”.

Gallagher adds,

“Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.”

Hacker group Anonymous have claimed responsibility for similar attacks in recent weeks but are keen to repudiate responsibility for this sustained downtime. In a written statement the group state that this attack is not part of any official Anonymous group operation,

“While it could be the case that other Anons have acted by themselves, AnonOps was not related to this incident and does not take responsibility for whatever has happened.”