(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Read this and find the four major reason's PSN might have shut down! And if you post vote which reason you think is most likely...



Possibility #1: Anonymous Was Behind the Outage
Plausible? Not too long ago, the hacker group "Anonymous" launched "Operation Sony" in response to the lawsuit brought against PS3 hacker George "GeoHot" Hotz. In their manifesto, they railed against "the unforgivable offense against free speech and internet freedom, primary sources of free lulz."

Anonymous then proceeded to attempt a 24-hour boycott of the Sony Store, which was ultimately unsuccessful. When the PlayStation Store went down last week, all eyes went to Anonymous, who promptly denied responsibility. In this case, the denial seems plausible, as they've previously been very vocal about their efforts to take down other organizations like the Church of Scientology. Chances are good that it was a different group.

Possibility #2: PSN Was Shut Down to Knock Out Pirates
Plausible? A post from a person purporting to be a moderator at PSX-Scene recently popped up over at Reddit. He points to the release of a custom firmware utility called "Rebug," which is available to turn a retail PS3 into a unit that can run development software. Using the custom firmware and fake credit card numbers, hackers proceeded to enage in "extreme piracy of PSN content." Sony responded to the "intrusion" by shutting down the entire network.

Hacking has been a major issue for the PS3 since word that the group Fail0verflow had found a major exploit in the system's encryption system hit back in December. The mere presence of a utility like "Rebug" makes it entirely possible that software pirates have managed to find their way onto Sony's developer network. While we're treating this as a rumor for now, this is looking very likely.

Possibility #3: It Wasn't Hackers At All, but a Much More Embarrassing Failure
Plausible? In the words of Valve head Gabe Newell, one of the key elements in making the PS3 iteration of Portal 2 the "best console version" was the highly anticipated implementation of the Steamworks service across PSN.

Boasting Steam’s auto-update and community features, as well as cross-platform co-op play with gamers playing on PCs and Mac OSX, the PS3 edition of Portal 2 was well on its way towards paving some impressive new ground on Sony’s online service. Until it crashed…one day after Portal 2's release on April 19th. Coincidence?

Well yes, we're pretty sure it was a coincidence. Sony's already come out and said that the PSN outage was caused by hackers, and it's highly unlikely that an internal glitch-out on Valve's end would spur the whole of the Network to collapse. Such an outage would be a major black eye for Sony though, which is the only thing we can think of that would spur them to lie about the fact that it was hackers. Still, we think it's pretty unlikely.

Possibility #4
Plausible? Identity thieves want your credit card number. In one of the more unnerving theories regarding the PlayStation Network outage, some gamers fear that the hackers responsible for pulling the plug on the service did so in hopes of compromising the personal information of PSN users.

That means tapping into credit cards, addresses, and phone numbers all on file with Sony's service. Speaking with PC World, SCE spokesperson Satoshi Fukuoka wasn't able to confirm or deny that the hackers have gained access to users’ financial information. But he does note: "Sony will promptly inform users if it finds that is the case." While it’s certainly unsettling to know that your personal information may or may not be at risk, it’s not too likely that the whole of the PlayStation Network would be taken down by money-hungry hackers looking exclusively for credit card numbers.

---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 PM ----------

Let the votes begin!!!

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The madness just won't stop.

It is sort of both 2 and 4

What is Possibility #4, there isnt a header. And since nobody has even claimed their hacking victory, im guessing the "external intrusion" was not hackers.

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