Hackers Known as R.I.U. Star Patrol Planning New DDoS Attacks for Christmas Day
During an interview last week, hackers known as R.I.U. Star Patrol discussed taking down PSN and Xbox Live on Christmas Day. These attacks would be carried out using coordinated DDoS strikes similar to those launched against Tumblr.
DDoS attacks aimed at PSN and Xbox Live are now something of a Christmas tradition. Both Sony and Microsoft make promises to enhance their protection systems and block these attacks, but the latency and outage issues continue to occur. The two companies are once again prepared to see DDoS attacks targeting their servers, but whether they can defend against said attacks is another matter.
Neither Microsoft nor Sony have provided an official response to these threats.
There is no strategic value in launching these attacks every Christmas. Rather, hacker groups merely do it for the inherent challenge and its associated thrills.
“We do it because we can. We have not been paid a single dollar for what we do,” they said. The attack on Tumblr earlier in the week was also executed “just for fun.”
For these networks, Christmas is one of the busiest days of the year. Gamers register new consoles and download new games on Christmas. This means that attacks on these networks are guaranteed to have the largest possible impact. “Fun” and fame apparently go hand in hand for groups like R.I.U. Star Patrol.
Whether hackers actually take down these networks tomorrow remains to be seen. Perhaps this will be the Christmas that Sony and Microsoft reduce their impact on network performance.
SOURCE: Softpedia