Notes

Hack Attack on Sony And Xbox

Xbox, Sony hackers hit by hack attack



20 January 2015



Lizard Squad hacking group was hit by embarrassing attack that exposed the entire database of users.



The group claimed to have taken off the PlayStation and Xbox gaming networks over the Christmas period.



After that, it set up an online platform that allowed anyone who paid for its software to flood other websites with information.



The attack that exposed the customer list is one of several aimed at the group and its tools.



Address list



Investigative journalist Brian Krebs broke the news that the database behind the Lizard Stresser tool was compromised. The Stresser allowed those who paid for it to load websites or kick people off their websites by dumping data.



Mr. Krebs did not specify who got at the information, but said he had acquired a dump of the entire roster of 14,241 people who had signed up.



Anyone who visited the Stresser website was warned via text message in the login box. It advised users to change their password which they had created when they signed up.
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In a blog post, Mr Krebs said the Lizard Squad had not taken many precautions to protect the login information and contact details given by users.



Krebs declared that all passwords and usernames registered were stored in plain text, adding that only 100 people had paid for it.



Tech news site Ars Technica also got hold of the database dump, which was released on the Mega file-sharing system. It said that the majority of people who used it were gamers who were trying to stop their opponents from playing a certain game. Minecraft servers were a favorite target of the Stresser users according to the report.



Ars Technica stated that the dump of the database could create problems for anyone who used it, as many IP addresses were poorly hidden and could be recovered with some effort.



Then, shortly after Lizard Squad was attacked on IRC chat networks, other computer experts dismantled the tools. One of them exposed the source code of a program used to attack people on IRC chat networks.



In addition, shortly after the website was launched computer science student Eric Zhang managed to enumerate the names of all the people who had signed up using a very simple script.



He said, "That took only 10 minutes."



He said he was not shocked that the entire database had been stolen because when he looked at the site, public access to the server behind it hadn't been blocked.



"If you examine the site it's clearly run by someone who does not have any formal knowledge of software engineering," he said.



"Most of what they're doing is not really impressive," he said. "Anyone can do this. It's just a matter of time.



Mr Krebs stated that Lizard Squad was being targeted by security personnel who were annoyed by their sudden fame.



He also said that there was a general consensus in the security industry that these guys are out of their minds. If we don't find justice for a few teenagers from Western countries who are rubbing it in everyone's faces, that's an unsettling situation.



He also said that the time it took to carry out investigations and locate members of the group helped it survive. Recent arrests of Lizard Squad members seemed only to have snatched a few of its hangers-on but had let a few core members remain in the open.



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Brian Krebs



Eric Zhang


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