NA PSN has been down for several hours, no sign of recovery, might be linked to DDoS attack
Sony’s Playstation Network in North America has been down for the majority of the day today (January 4th), and there doesn’t seem to be a fix coming soon. The issue might be connected to an ongoing massive DDoS attack.
Update 8PM PST: The PSN services now appear to be up and running. Original article:
Playstation’s official support account posted an update on twitter several hours ago saying they are still working on the issue. This was the last update as of this writing.
We are still working on resolving today’s issues with PSN. Thanks for your continued patience. For current status: https://t.co/cLXo9fGH27
— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) January 4, 2016
Playstation suggest that you check the official PSN status page to get the latest status of the PSN. For now, the page looks depressingly red for those of you who would want to enjoy PSN access:
So much Red, is it Christmas again?
Several people on Twitter have connected the issue to an ongoing DDoS attack on Sony’s PSN Servers in the US. You can check the attack in real time on norsecorp.com, although, ironically, that page also seems to be down as I type this. but trust me, it’s kind of beautiful to watch, when it works: 
While the connection between that DDoS attack and Sony’s servers is not clear, it still seems to be related. People have pointed out that the target pictured on the norsecorp servers is not where Sony’s systems are located. This makes sense as the norsecorp servers that detect the attack are not in the same location, but still capture some of the attack. Other people have pointed out that the attack seems to originate from San Jose. Some security experts say it’s a bug in the norsecorp interface, and that the attack is actually originating (mostly) from China. Other sites such as Techworm pinpoint the attack as originating mostly from Sweden.
Main attacker is Anxin 142.4.119.68 in China, but @NorseCorp places it in San Jose, CA https://t.co/ARSdLDs5D0 — Sam Bowne (@sambowne) January 4, 2016
The infamous group Phantom Squad, which threatened to take PSN Down for Christmas, haven’t claimed responsibility for the ongoing attack.
In the meantime, angry gamers have taken to the #PSNDown hashtag to vent their frustration, you can join them if you were expecting to play today, because, what else are you going to do about it?
It doesn’t matter where they’re from… just who’s controlling it.
Good point
Just one of the many benefits to migrating into the PC Master Race…
While I would agree with you that pc gaming has many more benefits… we pc gamers would also suffer the same if for example steams servers or any other mmorpg server would be attacked.
So to say its especially vexing for those who pay to play (live,+, and many more subscription based services)
You have a good point. Aside from the “PC Master Race” stereotype humour there, no system is immune to DDoS attacks entirely, even Steam.
Steam however, is less likely to be DDoS’d or attacked; compared to PSN & XBL though
Well, what is frustrating is you have to pay for PSN to be able to play online.
Who told you that ? All playstation online enabled games are free to play online without any additional payments. You own the game = you can play online.
@piotrekhenry While that is true for the PS3, you must have Playstation Plus to play online on the PS4. So you own the game != you can play online.
@piotrekhenry
AFAIK, Ps4 online requires PS+
You gotta pay.
PC usually does not suffer attacks like this as there are more than one ways to get online.
Just pay huge for once and build the greatest pc or buy an alienware desktop
Not everyone has the means or desire to pay for a high end computer.
@Panzer Yet consoles in the long run are MORE expensive. Also you’re left with a brick when Xbox,
Sony or god forbid Nintendo close their servers.
Think, you pay around $300 for the console
$60 per controller
$60 per game
After 2 controllers and 5 games, that’s around $750. $750 would be enough to make a pretty sweet rig. Then you can go crazy pirating games, or you can find insanely cheap Steam deals on eBay.
Oh boy…
Its up in US
I think it is FailOverflow and their PS4 Dev unit box.
The poor PS4 is screaming at Sony, trying to make contact to let them know what is going down. That coupled with FailOverflow’s Linux “driver testing” must have pushed PSN off a cliff…. 😀
What would any group have to gain from attacking PSN? What benefit would they get ?
If anyone would understand, I would like to hear your answer, please.
Lamer rights.
What is that supposed to mean?
It was not only NA. It was also EU
Ok so ps4 online is a joke we know but this is done to tell psn users to go elsewhere for their gaming experience.