Sony claims Anonymous WAS involved in the hack

PlayStation Network - hack details emerge
PlayStation Network - hack details emerge

For the first time since the PSN and now Sony Online Entertainment hacks, Sony has revealed that Anonymous may well have been behind the cyber attacks.

Although Anonymous has vehemently denied any part in the hacking of Sony's online networks, US director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold has said that the company alerted the FBI once it found a file planted by someone claiming to be part of the hacker group Anonymous.

We are legion

"We discovered that the intruders had planted a file on one of our Sony Online Entertainment servers named 'Anonymous' with the words "We are Legion," said Seybold's notes, which have been published on Flickr via the US PlayStation blog.

"By 25 April, forensic teams were able to confirm the scope of the personal data they believed had been taken, and could not rule out whether credit card information had been accessed. On 26 April, we notified customers of those facts."

Sony is set to offer a 30 day free trial of its PlayStation Plus service. This is part of a Welcome Back pack, which will also include free downloads and free access to Music Unlimited.

This week, Sony has hired a third-party security firm which it hopes will help mop up the mess left by the hackers.

And still we wait for an announcement as to when the PSN will be back up and running.

Via VG247

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.