Hackers release cache of 13,000 passwords and credit card details for PlayStation, Xbox and Amazon users after online gaming access was blocked on Christmas Day
Internet hackers who have claimed allegiance to a shadowy
anarchist organisation have boasted online that they have released
confidential account information of more than 13,000 people. The hackers
claimed they stole the information 'for the Lulz' and even released a
pirated version of Sony's controversial movie 'The Interview'. This
follows the collapse of a number of popular gaming networks on Christmas
Day leaving thousands of children angry that they were not able to play
with their friends online.copy http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/a
Hackers release cache of 13,000 passwords and credit cards of PlayStation, Xbox and Amazon users
- Hackers took down PlayStation and Xbox networks on Christmas Day
- Now, hackers have released 13,000 passwords and credit card details
- Amazon, PlayStation and Xbox One users all affected by the latest breach
- Hackers also released Sony's movie The Interview for illegal download
- Thousands of children were disappointed as they could not play online
- The Christmas Day attack was claimed by hacking group LizardSquad
A
gang of internet hackers claiming an affiliation with shadowy anarchist
group Anonymous is claiming it has leaked the details of more than
13,000 users of Playstation, Xbox and online stores including Amazon.
The
hackers posted a document online containing username and password
combinations. They also added credit card numbers as well as expiry
dates.
The group told their followers that they hacked the account details 'for the Lulz'.
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The hackers claimed on Twitter to have released customer information of some 13,000 account holders
They also claimed to have ripped a copy of The Interview which could then be downloaded illegally
According to Dailydot.com, the hackers released account information from users of Xbox Live, Sony Playstation Network and Twitch.tv.
The hackers also released details they claimed came from retailers such as Walmart and Amazon.
They also released details from a host of pornography websites.
In
addition they ripped Sony's controversial movie The Interview and
uploaded it to a file-sharing website where it could be downloaded
illegally.
It is
understood that thousands of gamers have already complained to both
Sony and Microsoft who have been hit by the network problems.
The
hackers are believed to have used a denial of service attack, where
they bombard the targets servers with internet traffic forcing it to
shut down and preventing legitimate access.
This
comes as Christmas was ruined for thousands of children across the
country who were forced to abandon plans to spend the holidays in a
virtual world playing on their new Playstation or Xbox games systems due
to cyber-hackers.
Children
were reduced to tears during the 'worst Christmas ever', parents fumed
about paying hundreds of pounds for games consoles that could not be
used.
The hackers claimed the posted confidential information online including credit card details, file picture
Mark Haynes said there had been
'tantrums, tears and everything else' after attempts to set up the Xbox
One console he had bought for his children Archie (pictured), 13, and
Olivia, 11, kept failing
In
furious internet posts they demanded that console manufacturers Sony
and Microsoft pay compensation for the worldwide fault and asked why it
took so long for the problems to be corrected.
A
notorious group of hackers called Lizard Squad said it carried out the
hack 'for the laughs' and to expose poor online security.
The
consoles rely on an internet connection for many of their functions.
Parents were so angered by the issues with the machines, which cost up
to £349, that they wrote hundreds of messages to both companies on
Twitter accompanied by the message '#christmasruined'.
Ros
Bruce said her ten-year-old son had spent weeks planning what games he
and his friend would play together ahead of receiving an Xbox One for
Christmas. The boy was sorely disappointed when he tried to download a
game and was still unable to play it more than 15 hours later.
Gamers around the world were left
disappointed on Christmas Day after hacking group Lizard Squad carried
through with its threat to bring down both Sony's PlayStation Network
and Microsoft's Xbox Live service
Lizard Squad first announced that it
planned to take down the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live on Christmas
Day in early December, describing itself as the 'next generation Grinch'
Miss
Bruce, from Essex, said: 'He has spent most of the day in tears. He
says it's been his worst Christmas ever. I think Xbox should compensate
us all.'
A Twitter user from Scotland also called for a refund and said: '£450 later and the kids have an expensive plastic paperweight.'
Mark
Haynes told the Daily Mail there had been 'tantrums, tears and
everything else' after attempts to set up the Xbox One console he had
bought for his children Archie, 13, and Olivia, 11, kept failing.
Mr
Haynes, 50, from Ely, Cambridgeshire, criticised Microsoft's response
to the problem after calling technical support four times only to be
told by one staff member that the company 'had no idea what was going
on'.
The
hack took down Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network.
Popular games such as Call Of Duty and The Sims 4 were all but useless
for frustrated gamers.
Analysts
said that the attack was a DDOS, or distributed denial of service
attack, in which online networks are overwhelmed by traffic, leaving
normal users unable to gain access.
One
of the most popular features of the consoles is the ability to play
against friends and other users who are in different locations. This
feature, however, requires an internet connection and many children were
left disappointed at their inability to use it.
While
an internet connection is not required to play all games, new Xbox One
consoles need to be online to be successfully set-up.
Many
of those who received the consoles as Christmas presents are thought to
have experienced problems getting started. Furthermore, games on both
consoles often require an internet connection to be installed fully,
which was ruled out by the hack.
A
message on the Xbox status page yesterday said that its core services
were 'up and running' but PlayStation said engineers were continuing to
work on 'network issues'.
There
has been no official link between the incident and the infiltration of
Sony's computers by hackers said to be working for North Korea.
However,
Sony and Microsoft were heavily involved in the release of The
Interview, the comedy film about the communist nation which has angered
its tyrannical leader Kim Jong-Un; the film centres on a plot by two
American journalists to assassinate him.
Sony's entertainment division produced the movie, and Microsoft made it available to stream on its Xbox film service.
There
are 48million worldwide subscribers to the Xbox's internet features,
and more than double that for the PlayStation, which has some
110million.
Last
month Sony announced that it had sold one million consoles in the UK
just eight months after launching, with a sales boost expected before
Christmas.
In
an interview on tech website Winbeta, Lizard Squad said that it had
carried out the attack on Christmas Day to 'anger and reach the largest
amount of people'. It claimed that the attack was to highlight poor
online security and that Microsoft had barely any protection at all for
its Xbox online network.
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