Anonymous denies PlayStation Network hack

Anonymous, the hacker collective responsible for a spate of recent high-profile attacks, has denied any involvement in the Sony PlayStation Network hack, which also saw the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) network breached.

Suspicion fell on the group when it was revealed that a file was found on Sony’s servers called “Anonymous”, containing part of the group’s, “We are legion” slogan. However, Anonymous has hit back at the claims, releasing a press release denying its involvement.

“Whoever broke into Sony’s servers to steal the credit card info and left a document blaming Anonymous clearly wanted Anonymous to be blamed for the most significant digital theft in history,” said the press release. “No one who is actually associated with our movement would do something that would prompt a massive law enforcement response. On the other hand, a group of standard online thieves would have every reason to frame Anonymous in order to put law enforcement off the track. The framing of others for crimes has been a common practice throughout history.”

If Anonymous wasn’t involved, placing the blame on it was made easier by the fact that the group was engaging in a denial of service (DoS) attack against Sony at the time of the hack. Called OpSony, the attack was a response to Sony lawsuit against George Hotz, who cracked the PlayStation 3’s root key so that he could run whatever software he wanted on the games console.

Whoever committed the hack, the PSN network is victim to one of the largest data thefts in history. During the attack, all 77 million users of the network had their private details, including usernames, passwords, addresses and dates of birth stolen. Some 23,400 credit card details were also stolen from what Sony has called an outdated database.

Both the PSN and SOE networks remain offline while Sony implements improved security measures and works with the FBI to find out who was responsible for the attack.