# who is Lizard Squad and why do they have a beef with Sony? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359 "2014-12-28T15:46:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/1 "2014-12-28T15:46:17Z")
So this has been an issue in our house since my husband already had a PS3 and got a PS4 for Christmas. The PSN has been down for about a week, and it has come to light that a hacker group calling themselves Lizard Squad is responsible for screwing with the PSN and making any Internet based game play impossible. Why would Lizard Squad want to do this, are they Xbox fans or just messing with PSN for fun? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/2 "2014-12-28T18:39:59Z")
They were hitting XBox Live on Christmas, as well, so that’s not it. They’re just a bunch of bored script-kiddies automating DDOS attacks to be assholes to people. Not much new in that, really. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/3 "2014-12-28T19:05:27Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Why would Lizard Squad want to do this, are they Xbox fans or just messing with PSN for fun? Because they could. 😃 > [@](#): > > [ul] > [li]Taking down PlayStation Network and Xbox Live started “for the laughs,” but eventually the collective found a cause to rally behind — forcing these companies to upgrade the security on their networks.[/li][li]Lizard Squad chose Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because it believed “it would anger and reach the largest amount of people.”[/li][/ul] > – snip – > [ul] > [li]The easier game network to take down was Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Sony had apparently upgraded its security recently, which took “a bit of time to work around,” but Microsoft had “almost nothing” in terms of security.[/li][li] Lizard Squad has not said when the attacks would stop: It said they would continue until the companies “learned from their security issues.”[/li][/ul] [Why Hacker Gang 'Lizard Squad' Took Down Xbox Live and PlayStation Network - Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/why-hacker-gang-lizard-squad-took-down-xbox-live-and-playstation-network-2014-12) Full “[interview](http://www.winbeta.org/news/exclusive-interview-cyber-terrorist-group-lizard-squad-why-they-brought-down-xbox-live-and-psn)” here. [URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/4 "2014-12-30T00:03:33Z")
So just a bunch of bored hackers looking for something to do? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/5 "2014-12-30T00:15:29Z")
Brian Krebs has an [educated guess](http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/12/whos-in-the-lizard-squad/) as to who they are. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/6 "2014-12-30T00:28:03Z")
> [@](#): > > ``` > The easier game network to take down was Microsoft’s Xbox Live. Sony had apparently upgraded its security recently, which took “a bit of time to work around,” but Microsoft had “almost nothing” in terms of security. > > ``` > [@](#): > > Lizard Squad has not said when the attacks would stop: It said they would continue until the companies “learned from their security issues.” Such with Microsoft is unsurprising, yet that’s scarcely a reason. Such self-righteous justification — utterly alien to the spirit of Internet Nerddom — means I can rattle the door-handles of empty shops at night, and if I get in, it’s on _them_. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/7 "2014-12-30T20:22:53Z")
My point exactly. Seems like they made up the excuse after the fact. I also can’t help but think that some of their Squad was pissed when they couldn’t play co-op mode on Assassin’s Creed for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-lizard-squad-and-why-do-they-have-a-beef-with-sony/708359/8 "2014-12-30T21:02:07Z")
After hearing the radio interview I dislike them less.