Hackers PwN the PlayStation Network

Apparently there really are Neo's out there ... and they have fucking brass balls.

Sweet, I always wanted a sequel. Don't let Natlie Portman shave her head, plz.

Late Wednesday, in a stroke which is probably best described as a mass evisceration of the PlayStation's online component  (that free network that all of the PS3's games with online components run off of), Sony was literally brought to its knees.

Apparently, Sony didn't get the memo from the now legendary hacker organization, Anonymous, that was slid under their door the day before:

Badass,  but can you just turn on Black Ops?

The story:  Sony targeted for legal action a couple of members of the Anonymous organization, GeoHot and Graf_Chokolo, for not only being the first to "jailbreak" the PS3, but then also to spread the technical know-how across the Internet for others to do the same.

What is Jailbreaking?

Most people have heard "jailbreaking" in conjunction with the iPhone as the method by which users gain access to the entire Unix file system. Basically, a jailbroken iPhone or PS3 would allow the user to modify and customize the coding anyway they saw fit, including but not limited to the installation of nifty but "illegal" programs.

iPwn

Want a dynamic and animated background on the iPhone like Android has? Well, you can if you jailbreak - but it comes with a potentially big downside for some people. If you are one of those clumsy folk who drop their phones in toilets while they are drunk-dialing, you might want to know that jailbreaking voids the iPhone's warranty, and apparently not even a system restore on the phone can undo the markers that the system has be broken.

Back to the original story: Sony went through the legal action against the hackers, and no sooner had the ink cleared on the lawsuit then the PlayStation Network was ripped to shreds by Anonymous.

Being that I suddenly had a lot more free time to explore what the hell was going on with my console, I found the Internet ablaze with rumors about the cause for the crash. Sony was being extra cryptic with their updates, with the first one only saying that the network was down "for maintenance" and it might take 2 or 3 days to restore.

Since Portal 2  and Mortal Kombat  were both released this week with heavy  online components, people naturally questioned whether "maintenance"  was  the worst business move in Sony history, or something that took the company completely by surprise.

Thus the dots started to be connected, and eventually as the "2-3" day window passed, Sony had to acknowledge that it was an "outside attack," on their system that still has them scrambling. Anonymous originally released a statement simultaneously to the PSN crash that they were not responsible. Since then, warning signs and the discovery of threatening documents and videos toward Sony have emerged that indicate that yes, it was Anonymous, or at the very least a faction of hackers within the group that went rogue.

Yep, this shit just got more exciting than DieHard4: Hack the World .

Who are "Anonymous"

While they are in no way a Neo-like "Digital Jesus" organization,  Anonymous has assumed the "Guy Fawkes" mask and mantra by delivering chaos to the "corrupt" through their "hacktivist" ways.  They drink the Tron-koolaid of free information, and attack those that wish to suppress or skew information to mislead others. They initially got national recognition for their attacks on Tom Cruise, but really dabble in just about everything; hell,  4Chan - the most popular imageboard on the webz - is directly linked to be founded or run by Anonymous.

Yes it has sucked not being able to enjoy some games, but it's actually kind of reassuring that there are people out there that can defend the little guys.

One request:  please don't hack my Angry Birds brah.

Zerg rush so far up Sony's ass...