UK Police Arrest Second Lizard Squad Member Following Christmas Day Xbox Live, PSN Attacks
An 18-year-old man living in the U.K. was picked up and arrested in Southport as part of an investigation into distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks that brought down Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) and Microsoft's Xbox Live service on Christmas Day. The investigation is part of a joint effort between U.K. cybercrime authorities and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The DDoS attacks carried out by members of the hacking group Lizard Squad caused both services to be overwhelmed with online traffic, which disrupted access. Both Sony and Microsoft were forced to shut down their respective online services as they investigated the matter. Earlier this month, another member of Lizard Squad was arrested by UK police.
Ironically, it was Kim Dotcom who came to the rescue by communicating on Twitter that he would give the Lizard Squad 3,000 lifetime premium Mega accounts worth $99 each if they would stop hacking Xbox Live and PSN, and leave it alone in the future. Lizard Squad agreed, and soon thereafter Xbox Live was back online -- it took Sony a bit longer to restore PSN.
Kim Dotcom, the unlikely hero, is currently fighting efforts to have him extradited to the U.S. where he would face legal action over Megaupload. He's been accused of various crimes, including criminal copyright infringement.
As for the Lizard Squad member who is now in custody, he will face "swatting" charges, which refers to an individual or group knowingly providing false information to law enforcement agencies, causing them to respond with tactical teams. In this instance, he's accused of using Skype to make hoax calls, which in turn led to SWAT teams being dispatched.
The DDoS attacks carried out by members of the hacking group Lizard Squad caused both services to be overwhelmed with online traffic, which disrupted access. Both Sony and Microsoft were forced to shut down their respective online services as they investigated the matter. Earlier this month, another member of Lizard Squad was arrested by UK police.
Ironically, it was Kim Dotcom who came to the rescue by communicating on Twitter that he would give the Lizard Squad 3,000 lifetime premium Mega accounts worth $99 each if they would stop hacking Xbox Live and PSN, and leave it alone in the future. Lizard Squad agreed, and soon thereafter Xbox Live was back online -- it took Sony a bit longer to restore PSN.
Kim Dotcom, the unlikely hero, is currently fighting efforts to have him extradited to the U.S. where he would face legal action over Megaupload. He's been accused of various crimes, including criminal copyright infringement.
As for the Lizard Squad member who is now in custody, he will face "swatting" charges, which refers to an individual or group knowingly providing false information to law enforcement agencies, causing them to respond with tactical teams. In this instance, he's accused of using Skype to make hoax calls, which in turn led to SWAT teams being dispatched.
