UPDATED 23:24 EDT / AUGUST 20 2017

INFRA

PlayStation Network social accounts hacked, and network itself may have been compromised

Notorious Saudi hacking group OurMine successfully hacked social media accounts for the PlayStation Network over the weekend, but in a more concerning twist, it’s claiming it also compromised PSN itself.

In a series of tweets and Facebook messages that appeared Sunday, the group first claimed responsibility for hacking into the social media accounts, writing “PlayStation, contact us we got PlayStation Network database leaked!” The group then encouraged users on both Twitter and Facebook to “Let’s make #PlaystationLeaks Trending!” an encouragement for social media users to share their claims with friends.

There was no evidence that OurMine had successfully hacked the PlayStation Network, but given the group’s history, it should be considered possible.

The list of successful OurMine hacks goes back over a year. The group has always been fond of hacking high-profile targets, starting with the social media accounts of Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg in June 2016, followed by Google CEO Sundar Pichai the same month and Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe weeks later. The group’s first serious hack outside of social media accounts occurred in April, when it claimed credit for a mass YouTube hack that exposed the details of thousands of content producers, including network stars represented by YouTube network Studio 71.

OurMine has always been distinctive in that most of its hacks have been high-profile, low-damage affairs, and the group uses its website to advertise security services for companies that want to secure their social accounts.

A now-deleted tweet the group posted on the PSN Twitter account read, “No, we aren’t going to share it, we are a security group if you work at PlayStation then please go to our website.”

Image: downloadsourcefr/Flickr

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU