'The Phantom Squad' Target PlayStation Gaming Networks? Group To Ruin Christmas?

Hackers "The Phantom Squad" plan to ruin Christmas by taking down XBox and PlayStation gaming networks, according to IBTimes UK.

Last year a group of hackers called "Lizard Squad" let gamers down when they decided to take down the networks of PlayStation and Xbox. Gamers who wanted to play with their consoles were left frustrated on Christmas day.

For two days, the "Lizard Squad" took down PlayStation Network and Xbox Live using a DDoS attack. Users were unable to update their console play and could not play online against other gamers.

"The Phantom Squad" has claimed on Twitter that they will do the same thing this year and this time around, plans to keep the system down for one whole week.

When the attack takes down Sony and Microsoft networks, anyone who unwraps their consoles on Christmas Day won't be able to use them, as updates are required from the said networks upon set-up.

Over the past couple of days, the group has threatened Microsoft's and PlayStation's online gaming infrastructures. They have managed to stifle Xbox Live earlier in the day.

The group took to Twitter to confirm that they are the ones who took the network down, revealed Eurogamer. Microsoft is aware of the issue and posted a status update.

"Hey Xbox members, are you having trouble purchasing or managing your subscriptions for Xbox Live?" read the update. "Are you also having an issue with signing into Xbox Live? We are aware of these issues and are working to get it fixed ASAP!"

The Phantom hacker group also took down Reddit, Tuesday but the website just blamed it on "extreme load," reported UPI.

The hacker group says they just use a simple tactic, which is distributed denial of service or DDoS. This overloads servers with requests and this causes the network to become too slow to function or collapse.

According to the "The Phantom Squad," the purpose of the attacks is to demonstrate the importance of cyber security.