SONY VS 'ANONYMOUS'

THE THREAT

'Anonymous', a hacker group that declared war on Sony, seeks revenge for what they did to Geohot and Graf_Chokolo. Sony took GeoHot and Graf_Chokolo to court and Anonymous felt that it was an attack on free speech. George Hotz aka GeoHot, known for hacking the iPhone, successfully hacked the PS3 but a firmware update later blocked the users who are using that hack. I suggest you do more searching and reading as I can not further elaborate on what transpired during the court trials.

Anyway, here is the statement released by the Hacker group:

"Congratulations, Sony. You now have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our follow hackers, Geohot and Graf_Chokolo, has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable.”

You have now abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information on how your products work. You have victimised your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information, and continue to target every person who seeks this information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands. This is the information they were willing to teach the world for free. The very same information you wish to suppress for sake of corporate greed and complete control of the users.

Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous. You saw a hornets nest, and stuck your p*nises in it. You must face the consequences of your actions, Anonymous style.

Knowledge is Free. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not Forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."

FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE

THE ACTION

Afther the threat, came the action. Sony.com and Playstation.com were down.

4/4/11 - PLAYSTATIONLIFESTYLE.NET - "Speaking on a IRC chat a group of Anonymous are currently attacking several Sony sites. At the moment both Sony.com and PlayStation.com (including the PlayStation Store over PC) are down, presumably due to a DDoS attack – a distributed denial-of-service attack. People involved in the attack, called “OpSony” are asking that hackers “crash all server of sony please”. (Update - Some people can connect to Sony.com, but the site is extremely slow)."

The assault group dubbed as "OpSony" promised that the attacks will continue. Here's the video that was released by them.

EVEN SONY EMPLOYEES ARENT SAFE

Another group, now known as "SonyRecon" have begun a series of attacks. This groups attacks on a more personal level, they call it "Dox". Sony employees, Lawyers and the Judge are all targets.

Dox is where a hacker gets another person’s identity, such as the name of the person, telephone number, pictures, home address, email, IP address, family members and relatives names etc. and then uses this to their advantage, mainly fraud.

Some of the highlighted Dox attacks:

• Craigslist – Make a ad in the “free stuff” section, or in “erotic services” and “casual encounters” as is evident here there are many horny men who will relentlessly pursue someone who they believe to be 19/f.
  
• STD Postcards – send one of these e-postcards notifying the target that one of their previous sexual partners has a STD. Makes for an uncomfortable wait for them. Alternatively call an AIDS hotline and ask them to anonymously tell the target they could have HIV, thats a 6 month wait until the test comes back.
  
• Free UPS Boxes create an account and order the target a couple of hundred boxes & labels, fedex also offer free boxes.
  
• Google Maps use Google maps to locate local businesses to mess with the target.
  

• Call them:
  Skype – Use skype to call the target. When you first register a skype account you get one free call…
  IP Relay – Ask the operator not to announce at the start of the call. This is a service only available to people in the USA.
  

ITS ONLY THE BEGINNING

'Anonymous' talked to Playstationlifestyle.net and made it clear that what happened is just a taste of things to come.

"So far, all Sony has seen from us is poking and prodding. A simple salute to let them know, we’re coming. Make no mistake, what you saw today and thought to be frustration is merely preparation for what’s to come. We said, expect us. Counting us out, would be a mistake. "

ESSENTIAL READING

• Hacker Group Anonymous Declare War On Sony
  
• Sony and PlayStation.com Brought Down By Anon Attack, More to Follow
  
• Anonymous Gets Serious, Attacks Sony Employees
  
• The Worst Is Yet to Come: Anonymous Talks To PlayStation LifeStyle
  

What do you think about Anonymous actions against Sony? Do you side with their beliefs? Are they way overboard by involving the regular consumer in their actions? What will happen in the next few days? months?
As a gamer It scares me that "Anonymous' is sounding really confident that they will achieve success with these attacks. Although I believe in the message that they're trying to convey, I cant help but think of the negative effects the attacks will have to the regular PS3 gamer. I guess all we can do is wait and see.