Sony and Microsoft Face DDoS Attacks as a Christmas Surprise

Though other sites have been describing Lizard Squad as the Grinch who stole Christmas, I would like to describe the group as cruel and pointless. As predicted, on December 25th, Lizard Squad, the group behind the DDoS attacks of World of Warcraft, Destiny, and other games, fired a DDoS attack that crushed the servers belonging to Microsoft and Sony. Or so they claim on Twitter. That being said, many gamers all over the world, excited to play multiplayer online, to watch Netflix with their family, or to browse the Live or PSN store, were disappointed when they were unable to access anything Internet related. Lizard Squad declared responsibility, but there is speculation that the attacks are not attacks, but instead just clogged servers due to excessive holiday traffic from those that received games and/or consoles.

I personally think that Lizard Squad was up to something, but at the same time, there were a lot of traffic from newcomers to consoles. After all, Lizard Squad declared yesterday that they ceased their attacks, but by night, PlayStation Network had ongoing issues. In fact, PSN is still struggling to be fully functional.

One of the members of Lizard Squad even has appeared in an interview with UK's Sky News, showing his face via Skype. The member, who bore the alias "Ryan," answered rather bluntly:

In concerns to how the attack happened, "This attack was basically done by three people. We had a couple of people from outside the group helping with the attacks, helping us a little bit, but most of the traffic was coming from one or two people."

In concerns to why the attack happened, "Mostly to raise awareness - to amuse ourselves. One of the big aspects here was raising awareness regarding the low state of computer security at these companies. Because these companies make tens of millions every month from subscriber fees and that doesn't even include purchases made by their customers. They should have more than enough funding to be able to protect against these attacks."

In concerns to feeling guilty, "I'd be rather worried if those people didn't have anything better to do than play games on their consoles on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... I mean I can't really be (inaudible) feel bad. I might have forced a couple of kids to spend their time with their families instead of playing games."

But despite the interview sounding logical, there are some issues with the answers. For instance, to raise awareness on Christmas seems a little unfair. Sure, there are plenty of people who play games instead of spend time with their families on Christmas Day, but there are those who cannot spend time with families, or would like to spend time with families by playing family-oriented or cooperative video games. I feel that Lizard Squad has been in the wrong and are in need of just desserts. Though the Finest Squad has been able to combat them by releasing Lizard Squad's personal information. Though this has been a battle the FBI has struggled with since August, I feel that Lizard Squad is ever-closer to being dismantled. What do you think? Do you think there is validity in the reasoning of the DDoS attacks? I think not, considering the group has resorted to threats, but to each his or her own.

(Source: Business Insider)