Sony has stated that a file left on the hacked Playstation Network servers references Anonymous, a group of hackers that previously launched attacks on the service. Anonymous has explicitly denied responsibility for the recent breach in security, which effectively forced Sony to take the service offline. The Playstation Network outage entered its third week today. More information regarding the file can be found after the jump.
According to a letter sent to the congressional subcommittee that is looking over the breach in security by Kaz Hirai, the President and CEO of the Sony Computer Entertainment, the company discovered a planted file on their service last Sunday. The file was named Anonymous, and contained the text “We are Legion”, a direct reference to the aforementioned group of hackers.
The letter also states that Sony failed to detect the intrusion because of the sophistication of the attack, and fact that the servers were at that time being targeted by a Denial of Service attack, a tactic commonly used by Anonymous, though one the group had previously stated it would not employ against Sony again.
Seeing as Anonymous explicitly denied responsibility for the intrusion, and Sony confirms in the letter that they have not identified those responsible for the attack, it seem plausible that a second hacker, or group of hackers, may have been involved in the intrusion and has attempted to shift the blame of the attack to Sony.
The letter that Hirai has sent to the congressional subcommittee can be found here.
Sony previously stated that basic features of the Playstation Network were to be re-established during the current week, though the Playstation Store will not return for several weeks at the very least.