CybersecurityThree arrested in PlayStation cyberattacks
On Friday, Spanish law enforcement officials arrested three men suspected of hacking into Sony’s PlayStation Network in addition to other major government and corporate websites around the world; the three men are suspected of being the local leaders of a secretive group of international hackers that call themselves Anonymous; the group has claimed responsibility for several high profile attacks on major sites like YouTube, Amazon, the Australian Parliament’s House website, and PayPal
Spanish police take one hacker from Anonymous into custody // Source: ucoz.ru
On Friday, Spanish law enforcement officials arrested three men suspected of hacking into Sony’s PlayStation Network in addition to other major government and corporate websites around the world.
According to Spain’s National Police, the three men are suspected of being the local leaders of a secretive group of international hackers that call themselves Anonymous. The group has claimed responsibility for several high profile attacks on major sites like YouTube, Amazon, the Australian Parliament’s House website, and PayPal.
Spanish authorities found a computer server in one of the apprehended hacker’s apartments which was used to attack the Sony PlayStation online gaming store. The same server was also used in coordinated attacks on two Spanish banks, an Italian energy company, and the government websites of Spain, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia, and New Zealand.
The three men were apprehended in Barcelona but were released without bail pending formal charges. The hackers are likely to be charged for forming an illegal association to attack public and corporate websites.
The attacks on Sony’s networks compromised personal information from an estimated 100 million users. In two separate incidents, hackers infiltrated Sony’s PlayStation Network and its Online Entertainment network stealing names, addresses, email, birth dates, and even phone numbers from online gamers.
Company officials estimate that the attacks could cost at least $173 million in damages, legal costs, loss of revenues, and additional security measures. The attacks forced Sony to shut down its PlayStation gaming network for a month.
Investigators are still trying to determine what role the three hackers played in the Sony cyberattacks, but if convicted they could face three years in prison.
