The culprits behind a distributed denial of service attack on PlayStation Network servers that spanned from Sunday to Monday are still unknown, though two different Twitter users have claimed responsibility.
One of those Twitter users also appeared to threaten an American Airlines flight on which Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley was a passenger, forcing it to land in Phoenix, Arizona instead of San Diego, California to be scanned for explosives, though none were found and it's unclear whether the DDoS attack was related. Sony is the parent company of PlayStation.
.@AmericanAir We have been receiving reports that @j_smedley's plane #362 from DFW to SAN has explosives on-board, please look into this.— Lizard Squad (@LizardSquad) August 24, 2014
The two Twitter accounts -- @LizardSquad and @FamedGod -- that claimed responsibility for downing PlayStation's online gaming servers have yet to be identified beyond their handles.
Should i Release the Script that knocked off PSN?— Fame (@FamedGod) August 25, 2014
PlayStation Network #offline— Lizard Squad (@LizardSquad) August 24, 2014
They've been labeled "hackers," and one has even been said to be a part of the Islamic State, the Islamist radicals that have taken over large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. Evidence for either of those claims, though, is scant.
A DDoS attack sends an extraordinary amount of traffic to server, causing it to shut down, but it is not a hack. The attacker does not have to break into anything, and no account information was reportedly stolen from Play Station users.
And the only evidence for the claim that @LizardSquad is affiliated with the Islamic State is a series of the account's tweets, which were sent amidst other tweets that seem to dare the FBI to investigate.
Kuffar don't get to play videogames until bombing of the ISIL stops. #ISIL #PSN #ISIS— Lizard Squad (@LizardSquad) August 24, 2014
My name is Brian Willson, I'm from Las Vegas NV. You think I'm scared of the FBI?— Lizard Squad (@LizardSquad) August 24, 2014
@LizardSquad has also offered no evidence that the account is affiliated with the Islamic State, nor any evidence to take responsibility for bringing down PlayStation's servers.
The other account, @FamedGod, took credit for the attack with a video, which has since been taken down.
PlayStation issued a statement once the servers were back online to reassure users who thought the gaming system's networks had been hacked.
"We have seen no evidence of any intrusion to the network and no evidence of any unauthorized access to users’ personal information," the statement said.
The FBI is still trying to determine where the bomb threat was tweeted from, according to FBI Special Agent Perryn Collier, who works at the agency's Phoenix branch.
“What we have to do is figure out how this threat was transmitted, where it came from, who’s responsible," Collier said.
He said they weren't able to go into any more information while the investigation is ongoing.