APlayStationNetworkoutage that started on February 7is the most extensive the service has suffered in a long time, and there might be reason to believe that it’s the work of bad actors. Although it’s expected that online services will occasionally have interruptions, they’re usually fairly brief. At the time of this article’s writing, the loss of services has lasted for approximately 24 hours, and it’s not yet clear when a fix will come.
According to aBlueskypost fromThe Vergesenior editor Tom Warren,the extensive service outage could be the result of a DDoS attack. A major DDoS attack targeted Xbox over Christmas, so in the absence of any official answer from Sony, something similar might well be the cause of the PSN troubles.
Sony may not wish to share details surrounding the nature of the outage until the situation is resolved, and at the moment,most of PlayStation’s resources related to PSN are likely going toward finding a solutionas fast as possible. If a DDoS attack is to blame, Sony clearly didn’t have the same success in blocking it that Microsoft did.
Tom Warren Claims Other DDoS Attacks Could Mean Sony Has Been Affected
Xbox Being Targeted Might Point To A Pattern
Although it might not seem like there would be sufficient motivation for large-scale DDoS attacks on online game services,the recent attempt on Xbox certainly proves that it’s as likely as ever. Since there’s not even an answer as to whether a DDoS attack is to blame yet, it’s hard to say whether it could come from the same source or simply be a copycat attack, but it’s not out of the question that a group would pivot to attacking PSN if Xbox’s security proved too impenetrable.
The Christmas attack wasn’t the first DDoS effort over the holidays, and one major past attempt on both PSN and Xbox Live happened in 2014.It’s not clear why someone would choose February 7 to have a go at PSN, but even with a pattern of Christmas attacks,past DDoS attacksfalling on random dates has still been the more common approach overall.
A DDoS Attack Seems Like A Reasonable Explanation
More Than A Service Blip
At any rate,I’d consider Tom Warren’s conjecture a relatively likely justificationfor the situation. Without a large-scale problem at hand, it’s hard to imagine that Sony couldn’t get some kind of solution up and running for the time being. Consistent availability is essential for an online service, particularly whenPSN account linking requirementsalready soured the brand for many in 2024.
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If the PSN outages are indeed the result of a DDoS attack,it’s likely that Sony will be stepping up its securityin the future, especially if it turns out that Microsoft’s approach would have been capable of handling the situation more readily. Whatever the case, my fingers are crossed forPlayStationNetwork to be back online soon.
