A group of hackers is threatening to take the gaming networks related to Xbox and PlayStation consoles offline for a week during Christmas, mirroring a similar attack last year that stopped gamers around the world from accessing games.

The group, which calls itself Phantom Squad, says it has already started attacking various gaming networks, including PlayStation Network (PSN), Xbox Live and Grand Theft Auto 5, and on Tuesday morning it said it had taken Reddit offline with a cyberattack. Reddit was offline for a period early Tuesday morning, but it is unclear at this stage what or who was responsible, as Phantom Squad's tweet claiming credit for the attack came after the first reports of problems from people accessing Reddit.

We are going to shut down Xbox live and PSN this year on christmas. And we are going to keep them down for one week straight #DramaAlert

— Phantom Squad (@PhantomSqaud) December 9, 2015

Last year, a group of hackers known as Lizard Squad attacked Xbox Live and PSN on Christmas Day, rendering the services inaccessible for gamers around the world. Three members of Lizard Squad were subsequently arrested and charged with various offenses related to their hacking activities. The attacks only stopped when internet entrepreneur and well-known gamer Kim Dotcom promised to give Lizard Squad 3,000 accounts on his encrypted upload service Mega.

Dotcom has once again involved himself in the potential attacks this year, warning Sony and Microsoft that they have had one year to upgrade their systems following the Lizard Squad attacks last year, adding that he doubts he will be able to stop them again:

Warning @Sony & @Microsoft. You had 1 year to upgrade your networks. If Lizard Squad takes down PSN & XBOX this Xmas, we'll be pissed! RT!

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 14, 2015

Besides claiming to have taken Reddit offline briefly, the group also claims to have attacked servers running GTA 5 and Black Ops 3, as well as taking Xbox Live and PSN offline for brief spells. The group published a video as proof of the attacks, showing tweets claiming responsibility for the attacks alongside images from the website Down Detector, which monitors online outages for a variety of services online.

Today https://t.co/vwG4SNrlLa. What should it be tomorrow

— Phantom Squad (@PhantomSqaud) December 15, 2015

Posted: Dec 15, 2015 1:59 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/hackers-threaten-bring-down-xbox-live-psn-christmas-again-2225702