Xbox Live went offline on Monday (December 1st), with hacking group Lizard Squad claiming that they orchestrated a DDoS attack on Microsoft’s servers. Now the servers are back online and Xbox One owners are reporting that the service is functioning once again, though Lizard Squad have claimed that they’ll launch a larger attack on Christmas Day, with this hack simply being “preparation.”
Also See: Beware: Fake Xbox Support Accounts Harassing Gamers, Offering “Free Consoles” Following DDoS Attack
Taking to Twitter, Lizard Squad wrote: “That’s a small dose of what’s to come on Christmas.” They then added: “Sony had it worse,” before tweeting “Who’s next?” suggesting that they have another company in mind in the near future.
Xbox Live went offline at around 8pm ET, with online play being heavily disrupted along with updates and game downloads. While the service is now reportedly fully functional, Lizard Squad has claimed that they stage another, possibly multiple, DDoS attacks, which will possibly also include Sony’s PSN service.
This news is likely set to have Microsoft and Sony manning their panic stations, as December 25th will see a lot of new console owners looking to go online. Sony is already reeling after an attack launched in its Sony Pictures division, which has seen a number of movies being leaked online from its private database along with confidential internal information.