PSN suffers Black Wednesday - but technology's terrorists won't stop at Sony

Anyone else wake up this morning with an icky feeling in their stomach?

Stupid, really. No-one died, there was no physical damage. I'm still here, you're still here. I'm sure your mum's fine.

And yet such a wave of immediate vulnerability, combined with a crash of breathtaking, stomach-crippling naivety... it was almost bleak.

The non-gaming world still hasn't fully grasped it yet, but it's one hell of a scary day to be a tech-savvy citizen. Our very way of life has been attacked, and consciously acknowledged or not, we are reeling.


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The immediate and vicious communal ire, unsurprisingly and to a large degree deservedly, has been directed at Sony. These are, after all, the personal and financial details with which over 70 million consumers - roughly the population of the entire UK - confidently entrusted the platform holder.

It seemed a simple deal: we'll give you oodles of cash for brilliant content, you take our money with a grin. Oh, and don't be frivolous with our entire online identity. Cool?

Overnight, that unspoken contract (or, indeed, that contracted contract, depending on the inevitable litigious tussle) has been eroded with a single, crushing phrase: "An unauthorized person has obtained the following information." I still feel slightly winded after reading it.

Sony may tell us that it's received no reports of credit card fraud from PSN users, but that will be shallow comfort to an uneasy, woozy consumer base. Under its guard, the safety apparatus has been ripped off our personal wealth - in some cases, the very funds that will bedrock our future livelihood. Some degree of inflated panic is entirely condonable.

But to lay the blame solely at Sony's feet is to do injustice to the guile, deviousness and frightening perspicacity with which the PlayStation Network has been invaded. And, moreover, to the rabid motivation that has driven it.

It is a fact that there may have been vulnerabilities in Sony's security that were overlooked. They should be independently investigated - and Sony fully held to account for any proven wisp of negligence.

But in fairness, the platform holder has been doing battle with a far greater force than a mere deficiency-seeking drone, out to wheedle its weak spots; it has been dealing with the rapacious human will of a fanatical foe.

It has, to all intents and purposes, been turned on by a technological terrorist - one without the malevolence for bloodshed or tragedy, but a terrorist nonetheless. Our cosy reliance on Sony's steel walls has been splintered; our trust in the system spooked.


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Thankfully - and I'm typing with fingers crossed and rabbit foot firmly attached - the perpetrator who shattered PSN's previously impenetrable digital fortress is more likely to be a spliff-in-mum's-garage nerd than a hardened, profit-seeking criminal. A nerd like the unfortunate Gary McKinnon, who - perspective alert! - allegedly snuck behind the digital perimeters of NASA and the US Navy, Army and Air Force in 2001. From his mum's computer. Just to check on UFOs.

Like McKinnon, PSN's nemesis is likely hyper-intelligent and, no doubt, not exactly a darling of high society.

The fact that a full week has passed since the PSN attack without any reported credit card fraud is reason for us all to relax at least a little - and to suggest that the end-game for Sony's public enemy no.1 was to expose, rather than embezzle; to win, rather than wound.

But what kept them ticking? Whoever successfully 'intruded' (Sony's Carry On euphemism does bring some light relief to proceedings, don't you think?) PSN last week was a demonstrable zealot; fixated on leaving Sony red-faced, and bringing its establishment crashing down.

If I were a betting man, and I'm not (or at least, I can't afford to be whilst my VISA lies legs akimbo to the criminal underworld), I'd put 50,000 MS Points on why I think PS3 was targeted in such a furious manner: Simply, because Sony beat the hackers.

Not only did its console lay non-moddable for years - the Batmobile of gaming next to Nintendo and Microsoft's relative Robin Reliants - but when Sony's Blu-ray beast was finally jailbroken, the company hit back. Hard.

It took the livewire king of the community, one George Hotz, and neutered him explicitly and unrelentingly, right in front of his acolytes. 'GeoHot' and Sony may have settled out of court, but Hotz's passive-aggressive, tail-whipped final rallying whispers to his fans were an embarrassment; a lobotomised whimper compared to the "fudge-packer" grandstanding heentertained us with at his height.


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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest analogies rush into view: The establishment had won, and made a clear example of the rebels' bloodied hero - all the while sending out a very clear message: 'Do not f*ck with us. Do not try and outwit us. Do not challenge our rule." So that's exactly what somebody in the hacking community decided to do, bigger and bolder than ever before.

Now it is Sony, not Hotz, which finds itself with its pants around its ankles; whilst a rebelliously-minded networking genius probably sits shaking, stunned at his own lawlessness and anonymous (Anonymous?) notoriety.

Perhaps he's in the mire of an archetypical realisation of a crime of passion; perhaps every knock at the door wrenches his gut, and every ring of the doorbell spells the melodic demon-acronym F-B-I.

Wherever he is hiding, whatever his mental state, the true impact of this individual's actions may be yet to bear fruit. His legacy may be the most frightening part of the entire saga.

As he may have been inspired by Hotz, the villain of Black Wednesday may yet inspire. Just as he has left many of us wobbly-headed, he may leave a handful basking in admiration - and embolden them to fight harder against technological titans.

Scarring Sony's underbelly so publicly, so shockingly and so globally is no mean feat. This was, remember, a company that outwitted the sharpest hacking minds for years; who up until Hotz's release of his initial PS3 exploit in January 2010, boasted the most bulletproof kit in the games industry.


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Who, conceivably could be next on the hacking hitlist?

How about that social networking site you've pumped so many of your locational, visual, emotional and - eeeek! - sinful secrets into for the past five years? What of that digital music platform, which not only bears a very tasty billing history, but a mind-boggling library of costly, one-click media to purchase? And what of that set-top box which, on paper, offers a reassuring entertainment alternative to Sony's now deflowered PS3?

What if next time, it's not a boy in a garage driven by victory; but a boy in a million-dollar house, driven by the perks of organised illegality? Suddenly, all these nightmarish scenarios seem that little bit more possible - and that little bit more terrifying.

In his restrained final ta-ta to fans, Hotz left one spiteful, furious forecast: "There is much more to come."

Well done George. You were right. And now - unless the wardens of our most valuable digital data can completely avoid suffering Sony's frailties - it's going to hurt us all.

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