Xbox, PlayStation devices disrupted for several hours

Cyber attack suspected as Lizard Squad group claims responsibility on Twitter

The computer networks for Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 video-game consoles were offline for most of Christmas Day, possibly because of an attack by a group of hackers with a history of targeting video games.

The hackers who call themselves the “Lizard Squad” claimed responsibility on Twitter for the shutdown, which essentially rendered the gaming devices unusable, but neither company confirmed the source of its problems. A Microsoft spokesman on Friday said the Xbox network was back up, but he declined to comment on the cause. Press officials for Sony did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The attack on the Sony and Microsoft gaming networks comes after a recent hacking of Sony Pictures’ computer network that law enforcement officials have linked to North Korea. There is no current evidence that the game system attack and the earlier hacking are connected. On Thursday, Lizard Squad claimed to have taken down Sony’s PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online game services.

Both Sony PlayStation and Xbox Live acknowledged that they were having service problems

Kim Dotcom, the Internet entrepreneur accused of mass copyright theft, said on Twitter if Lizard Squad stopped attacking the Sony and Microsoft servers, it could receive free access to his new service Mega.

Lizard Squad later said it had accepted Dotcom’s offer. Soon after, Xbox’s service went back up. However, the PlayStation Network was still down Friday morning, according to Sony’s support webpage.