The U.S. House of Representatives recently asked Sony to answer a number of questions related to the PSN breach, and it just so happened that Sony replied with evidence to implicate Anonymous as the perpetrator.
What Sony discovered was a file with the markings of Anonymous, planted in one of the Sony Online Entertainment servers. The file itself was named "Anonymous", and it contained text that read, "We are Legion." While this alone may not have been conclusive evidence, Sony was able to draw upon the overwhelming antics of "Operation Sony"--the threats and demands made against Sony, and the initial attacks against the PSN which Anonymous themselves admitted to. An excerpt from Sony's letter:
"When Sony Online Entertainment discovered this past Sunday afternoon that data from its servers had been stolen, it also discovered that the intruders had planted a file on one of those servers named "Anonymous" with the words "We are Legion." Just weeks before, several Sony companies had been the target of a large-scale, coordinated denial of service attack by the group called Anonymous. The attacks were coordinated against Sony as a protest against Sony for exercising its rights in a civil action in the United States District Court in San Francisco against a hacker."Sony then proceeds to point out, in so many words, that Anonymous is a threat to the security of internet commerce, and the world needs to band together to shut them down.
"While protecting individuals' personal data is the highest priority, ensuring that the internet can be made secure for commerce is also essential. Worldwide, countries and businesses will have to come together to ensure the safety of commerce over the internet and also find ways to combat cybercrime and cyber terrorism."The entirety of the letter is available through the Playstation Blog (click here to go straight to the letter images).
It seems that as we near the end of this unfortunate situation, Anonymous' plan to paint Sony as the enemy has backfired horribly. Sony has learned how to communicate more intimately with their customers, as well as demonstrating their competence in handling the situation. Oh no, Anonymous--you didn't bring Sony to their knees, as you had fantasized about in your IRC chat rooms. Instead, like a power-obsessed, raging Darth Vader lunging at Obi-Wan Kenobi, you struck Sony down... but you only made Sony more powerful than you could ever imagine.
Like most of the entities that Anonymous targets, Sony will recover and continue doing business. Anonymous, however, will never recover from the fury they've brought upon themselves, launching their desperate and ultimately pointless cyber-crusades at the cost of the innocent.
