Lizard Squad Bomb Threat Diverts Sony Exec's Plane To Phoenix 131
As if cutting off from their games millions of users wasn't enough for the day, Forbes reports that [the] hacker collective (or individual) known as the “Lizard Squad” succeeded in taking offline many gaming services including Blizzard’s Battle.net and Sony PSN. But things took a turn from irritating DDoS attacks to another level of harassment earlier this afternoon when the group took to Twitter to announce publicly that it a believed the flight carrying Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley had explosives on board. The flight had been bound from Dallas to San Diego, but in response to the bomb threat, the plane was diverted to Phoenix.
Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:5, Insightful)
Pissing off game companies is one thing. Getting the DHS involved is another entirely. They've just brought a level of hell down on themselves they are woefully unprepared to deal with.
Re:Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:5, Interesting)
Agreed.
I can't mod this + enough.
There seems to be a sort of collective dismissal of the power of government in hacker circles, as if the fact that some faceless bureaucrat in a lowly department failing to deploy a firewall to protect trivial information, or the FBI wasting billion$ on a worthless systems upgrade, were representative of the technological competency of the whole of the US gov't.
I doubt that's the case.
What people fail to understand is that the government is *huge* and as easy as it is to find laughable examples of waste, abuse, and outright incompetence, that's only one end of the bell curve.
The OTHER end has incredibly competent people, giant fat gobs of money, and a wealth of resources that beggar the imagination (ie if they need something and cannot ask for or buy it, they can resort to overt legalities like subpoenas, or not-so-legal methods like property condemnation, deportation, or IRS audits) to compel behavior in pursuit of their goals. Further, the great bulk of the US populace (ie not the very vocal 0.01% on internet chat boards) is IN FAVOR OF LAW AND ORDER, full stop, and will cheerfully volunteer cooperation to "the authorities" however they can. The US federal gov't has tremendous credibility with most of the population.
My point is enthusiastically reiterating the OP: it's one thing to hack some nerd-gamer servers, but when you attack the infrastructure of the US (and make no mistake, that's what this was) you will come to the attention of the 'sharp, pointy' end of the bellcurve.
Good luck with that.
Re:Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:5, Interesting)
The US federal gov't has tremendous credibility with most of the population.
Oops. You were actually doing quite well until you screwed-up by blurting-out the above load of nonsense: as gullible and dumb as most of the population is, Uncle Sam hardly has "tremendous credibility with most of them."
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Oops. You were actually doing quite well until you screwed-up by blurting-out the above load of nonsense: as gullible and dumb as most of the population is, Uncle Sam hardly has "tremendous credibility with most of them."
Slashdot is probably not a typical sampling of the US population and their feelings of the government, and "Credibility" doesn't necessarily mean "blind trust" or "unwavering devotion to".
Nor do, I feel, most people view "the government" as a single, monolithic entity, even though it's often referred to as such. For example: would you say that most people feel rather differently about the NSA versus the US Postal Service? How about the National Guard versus the US Congress? The CIA versus the Census Bure
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as gullible and dumb as most of the population is, Uncle Sam hardly has "tremendous credibility with most of them."
Sure he does. You think people don't worship federal law enforcement? Look at the coverage of, say, the Boston bombing; the media and the general public were all lining up to praise any officer who was involved in that situation. Same with Sandy Hook, same with "sabu" and Anonymous, same with every story that gets publicized.
Police abuses are currently part of the national dialogue thanks to what happened in Ferguson, MO. But it took that event, a racially charged shooting, to get national attention and wak
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Congressional re-election is a function of the absurdly high barrier to entry.
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You're mixing the three branches of the Feds with the "government." The government is everything from your DMV clerk to the NSA analyst who wrote the software that's automatically reading and categorizing this.
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I think he -should- have said "The FBI has tremendous credibility with most of them."
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Never tires. Wait.
Always tires.
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Re:Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:4, Interesting)
That's assuming that they have jurisdiction. If Lizard Squad is not in the US... Well, better hope their country is on good terms with you guys and is willing to hand them over.
Re:Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, I'd wager they're almost certainly in the US, or at least another relatively wealthy country with an extradition treaty. They're also probably a bunch of teenage males from moderately well-off families, and who have far more free time and impotent angst than good sense. Anyone living in an area with lots of real-world problems as opposed to first-world problems wouldn't bother targeting videogame companies or Sony executives.
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(looks at the last 13 years of US conduct in the "war" on terror)
You think jurisdiction - or lack thereof - makes *any* substantial difference?
Seriously?
Re: Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:1)
Whatever makes you believe that the public infrastructure was hacked? It's just as likely there was a gamer in the airport or onborad the very same flight as the Sony exec and the information necessary to make the threat seem credible was purely coincidental. Of course DHS couldn't risk the consequence of being inattentive to a tweet, since the entire US intelligence strategy is laser-focused on Total (electronic) Information Awareness to the growing exclusion of hum-Intel.
The growing cost of security overh
Independence Day (Score:2)
"Did you really think they were spending $500 on a hammer?"
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The government doesn't even NEED to be all that competent, just competent *enough* to figure out where the person they need to fuck with is.
Way to taunt the Juggernaut (Score:5, Insightful)
Pissing off game companies is one thing. Getting the DHS involved is another entirely. They've just brought a level of hell down on themselves they are woefully unprepared to deal with.
My thoughts exactly. These kids better find a cave or a hole on the ground somewhere near the Khyber Pass or Timbuktu. Making bomb threats/pranks? There is a whole lot of angry coming right at them right now, the likes you can only escape by being a government entity, not some stupid script kiddie.
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There's already a whole lot of angry coming at them right now, they stopped me from playing GTA V online yesterday... :O
In all seriousness, I think the fastest way to make your hacking group completely hated is to hack gamers. Lulzsec and Anonymous to some degree, were completely despised after what they to gamers.
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Reminds one of the scene in Burn After Reading where Chad tries to blackmail Osbourne Cox:
Osbourne Cox: If you ever carried out your proposed threat you would experience such a shitstorm of consequences, my friend, your empty little head would be spinning faster than the wheels of your Schwinn bicycle back there.
Chad Feldheimer: Y-you think that's a Schwinn?
The Faux News of Geekdom (Score:5, Informative)
Seems quite possible that Sony just offered a lot of money to one of these script kiddies so that the authorities would be incentivised to do the corporation's dirty work.
The offer will never materialise.
I can't prove it, but I can say it. - Stephen Colbert
Slashdot, where nerds forget The Law of Parsimony.
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Re:The Faux News of Geekdom (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps some reading comprehension is in order. The OP didn't say they did it; they merely pointed out the possibility.
Oh well, in that case, let me point out the possibility that Elvis is still alive, that the Moon landings were a hoax filmed at a NASA's garage, that 9/11 was masterminded by the Rothschild family and "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a real, historical document.
Hell, here is another possibility. Obama ordered it because Benghazi. Or better yet, maybe Bush ordered Cheney to assemble a bunch of hackers back in 2007, but these hackers went rogue for lack of sex or whatever, beyond the original, official parameters of their mission, which did not include making fake bomb threats.
It is possible. You cannot prove it to me that this is not possible.
To borrow your own words, I am merely pointing out the possibility. Again, I cannot prove it (that the possibility is false), but I can say it (pointing it out.)
Anything that is not mathematically provable to be impossible is, by definition, possible. But just because something is possible, it does not make it reasonable. It certainly does not imply that such thing is even noteworthy of consideration.
Again, Law of Parsimony, or Occam's Razor or whatever you want to call it. If people want to spend brain cells in merely pointing out the possibility of really stupid, inane, batshit crazy conspiracy theories, whatever rocks their proverbial boats. They should not expect not to be called on it, though.
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Why would I object to you pointing out those possibilities?
Because of a lack of common sense? Because you don't care about Occam's Razor's and rational thinking? Because you the Law of Parsimony has no place in logical/scientific thinking?
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Or because I'm smart enough to read what I read, and weigh it accordingly. Is it a possibility? Of course it is a possibility. Is it the most likely explanation? Of course it isn't. Does that mean that isn't what happend? Of course it doesn't. That might very well be what happened. Your lack of understanding of Occam's Razor seems to be your downfall. The most likely explanation has nothing to do with this, and if Occam's Razor said it did, then nothing unusual or unlikely would ever happen.
If you are smart enough to read what you read and weight it accordingly, then you are smart enough to dismiss that which is evidently preposterous, or in the case of the OP I originally replied to, an obvious accusation of wrong doing from Sony's part. That is not just hinting at a possibility but passing/suggesting an unfounded accusation, and for which there is no evidence but it is passed around to rile up the e-geek-masses.
No need to weight it in in elaboration as it can be dismissed accordingly for w
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Russell's Teapot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot [wikipedia.org]
You can buy this on a shirt!
http://controversy.wearscience.com/design/teapot/ [wearscience.com]
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I love that "Teach the Controversy" t-shirt line, and was curious for awhile why a teapot was one of the designs. Thanks!
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No. They mean before juming to the conclusion that all is as it appears, consider the other very distinct possibilities .
Obligatory : https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Seems quite possible that Sony just offered a lot of money to one of these script kiddies so that the authorities would be incentivised to do the corporation's dirty work.
The offer will never materialise.
I can't prove it, but I can say it. - Stephen Colbert
Slashdot, where nerds forget The Law of Parsimony.
Perhaps some reading comprehension is in order. The OP didn't say they did it; they merely pointed out the possibility.
Oh well, in that case, let me point out the possibility that Elvis is still alive, that the Moon landings were a hoax filmed at a NASA's garage, that 9/11 was masterminded by the Rothschild family, the Chupacabra is related to the Yeti and Kim Kardashian, and "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a real, historical document.
Hell, here is another possibility. Obama ordered the hacking and bomb threat because Benghazi. Or better yet, maybe Bush ordered Cheney to assemble a bunch of hackers back in 2007,
self-post snafu (Score:2)
Bill, 'O Really?' of Faux News (Score:2)
YOU CANT STOP THE SIGNAL, MAL!
Re:Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:4, Insightful)
Outlandish Claim? Check
Zero Evidence? Check.
Impossible to refute? Check.
Yes, sir, we have a typical conspiracy theory.
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Yea, that's almost as crazy at the NSA hacking and tracking pretty much everything and everyone. Oh wait...
Re: Aaaand there goes the lizard squad (Score:5, Insightful)
Good point, now that one conspiracy theory has been proven correct we can safely toss all critical thinking out the window and accept every other half-wit conspiracy that appears on the internet.
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I'll take "Things we actually have evidence of" for $100, Alex.
Just because a major hacking incident by a corporate/government power occurred, doesn't mean that they all occurred.
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The final category is: Circumstantial Evidence.
People said the suspicions about NSA overreach were "crazy" for years, but all the signs were there before Snowden released hard documents. If everyone waited to be spoon-fed facts about the world around them, rather than drawing conclusions based on life experiences and circumstantial evidence, we'd still be trying to figure out that whole "fire" thing.
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Funny, I'm suspect the NSA terrorist identification manual has a very similar idea in it.
Once we start relying on gut instinct and circumstantial evidence to determine who the bad guys are, we've gone a long way down the path of becoming the bad guys ourselves.
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No, just circumstantial evidence.
That's it's only a suspicion, rather than "drawing conclusions based on life experiences and circumstantial evidence".
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Damnit, I need more coffee. I keep words in my sentences. That should read:
That's why it's only a suspicion, rather than "drawing conclusions based on life experiences and circumstantial evidence".
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+2 Insightful on a trollish anon? Nice. So, this is SlashFark, now?
+2 insightful in his identification of what a shitty conspiracy usually relies on, and why the parent fit that model.
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^^ That.
With the piles of money that Sony stood to lose over any PR fallout resulting from another "hacking" scandal on the PSN network, regardless of the validity of said scandal, there is every reason to believe that they would use any means necessary to neutralize this threat. And, honestly, posing as the spokesperson for a loosely-affiliated group with no valid way to repudiate the incident is fecking trivial for any entity with the financial and technical resources of Sony.
Obligatory [slashdot.org]
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Except they've been targeting DDoS attacks by request. They've taken down (in the past couple of days) League of Legends, Battle.net, PSN, and I think they hit the XBox network earlier.
Anonymous is not amused. (Score:1)
It is starting to look more and more like this is FamedGod's doing, and these lizardtards are just trying to highjack the lulz.
https://www.facebook.com/Lizar... [facebook.com]
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You are correct. http://www.gamerheadlines.com/... [gamerheadlines.com]
Twit....ter (Score:5, Insightful)
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stupid is as stupid does.
Poor John Smedley (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know what's worse: being blown out of the sky with explosives or having to stay in Phoenix.
Re:Poor John Smedley (Score:5, Funny)
Having to stay in Phoenix *with a Sony exec*. It's like cramming two levels of Hell together into one Boss Level of Hell.
Re:Poor John Smedley (Score:5, Funny)
And that Boss Level of Hell won't even load because the PSN is down.
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They got what they wanted (Score:1)
These lizardsquad chuckle heads have been DDoSing all the major game networks for the past 3 weeks. They even claimed to have DDoS fbi.gov and nsa.gov over that same time. Now they finally have the fame they were looking for all along. CNN, Forbes and the front page of /.
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Ah, but it ain't over yet! Let's just see what else they get..
An all expenses paid, one way trip to Cuba would be my guess.
What's the point of a hack like this? (Score:5, Funny)
I just don't get why someone would be willing to commit criminal activity like they did just to annoy some people. It's not exactly a show of skill - PSN has been a low-hanging fruit for DDoS attacks since forever - and it's clearly not making them any money. I'm sure there's also ways they could've annoyed people more without having DHS coming after them for calling in a bomb threat. If I had a DDoS-capable botnet I'd at least do something fun with it, like spam mobile email addresses with fake CNN updates purporting that Christ has risen and he's declared the Year of the Linux Desktop.
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Never wanted to steal from people, or sell them mexican viagra, so had no use for a botnet.... Until now!!
Re:What's the point of a hack like this? (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess anyone clever enough to do something intelligent or useful with these attacks would also be smart enough not to bother.
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It's a good question. I can see why PSN was originally targeted - some of Sony's behavior around then was atrocious.
But these guys are targeting everyone.
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It's looking more and more like that was a really poorly-thought-out attempt at misdirection.
Misleading headline (Score:1)
They said they've been receiving reports about a bomb on the plane, not that they put one there. They didn't make a bomb threat; they relayed one.
Re:Misleading headline (Score:5, Insightful)
yeah, the same way the maffia would tell you: "it's a nice little shop you have there, I heard something bad could happen to it, like a fire, or a bomb. Want me to check on you once in a while ? you know just to be sure you're safe and all ?"
it's not like they would ever threaten anyone. Just relaying some hearsay and proposing some help.
Re:Misleading headline (Score:5, Insightful)
They said they've been receiving reports about a bomb on the plane, not that they put one there. They didn't make a bomb threat; they relayed one.
They better have proof that they received a bomb threat then.
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Yes officer, I just yelled fire because 'someone else' did. I didn't start a panic for nefarious purposes or anything. There's only ONE place to report the threat of a bomb, and that's to authorities, not to a general public who can often knee jerk a response to a potentially real emergency without any form of organized response.
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A plane landed in Phoenix instead of San Diego.
It doesn't appear that this involved "so much havoc or panic", or that "everything" depended on John Smedley reaching San Diego on time.
If it did, my Emergency Broadcast System must be broken. They should test that thing some time!
US Code, Title 18, Part I, Chp 40 844 -Penalties (Score:5, Informative)
But things took a turn from irritating DDoS attacks to another level of harassment earlier this afternoon when the group took to Twitter to announce publicly that it a believed the flight carrying Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley had explosives on board.
From US Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 40 844 - Penalties
(e) Whoever, through the use of the mail, telephone, telegraph, or other instrument of interstate or foreign commerce, or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, willfully makes any threat, or maliciously conveys false information knowing the same to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made, or to be made, to kill, injure, or intimidate any individual or unlawfully to damage or destroy any building, vehicle, or other real or personal property by means of fire or an explosive shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years or fined under this title, or both.
This is not including whatever state laws that were violated on top of Federal laws. One (well deserving) word: Darwin.
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And the little fuckers talk about their exploits like some drunken dip-shit at a bar. They've lost sympathy from one group of people that might have some for them and they've called in a federal felony level bomb threat. Someone, perhaps their own bragging, is going to rat them out for this and a few years from now, they will be drug out of their mom's basement to the glaring light of CNN while mum tearfully cries on national TV about her over weight pasty skinned stereotype and the loss of every microp
Didn't just attract attention from the authorities (Score:3)
They also pissed off "the better man". https://twitter.com/FamedGod/s... [twitter.com]
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Who is this supposed to be?
The real hack (Score:5, Interesting)
Everyone seems to think this was no big deal... it was just a DDOS and the use of a phone! etc...
My question is: How did they know what flight Smeadly was on? That right there is the scary bit...
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Re:The real hack (Score:5, Interesting)
Its pretty easy - Smeadly said he was going offline on a flight that had no wifi on twitter and that he was heading back to San Diego - he also said this on twitter. So all you have to do is figure out what convention Smeadly was at yesterday - so you know the originating city - and I'm guessing maybe there were a couple flights a day from there to SD.
Its a guess, but its a pretty educated one.
This is like first level private eye stuff here - people really assume everything they do is private, and then they give people clues publicly where they are without a second thought - and then it looks all hackerish like these guys have l33t skills.
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I should add - people give away all kinds of important information on where they are on twitter at any given time. I mean just watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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> My question is: How did they know what flight Smeadly was on? That right there is the scary bit...
My guess: Sony has a corporate jet just for him. Whenever it goes somewhere, he's on it. All flights are public knowledge. There are even websites dedicated to tracking them in real time.
Nope, he was on an American Airlines flight.
Also, I'm now reading that this is not just a DDOS attack. They actually got on the servers and covered them with ISIS flags.
As an Internet Lizard, I just want to say ... (Score:2)
... that these are not real internet lizards, just posseurs. I suspect that GEICO jerk. He's a sell-out.
A Sony RootKit on board (Score:1)
Put Sony Exec on the no fly list.
why divert? (Score:2)
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A bomb with a timer won't know that it should blow up sooner because the airplane will land sooner. A bomb with a pressure sensor will blow up on descent either way. Pick a path that does the least harm.