{"id":78734,"date":"2015-01-02T07:37:30","date_gmt":"2015-01-02T07:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=78734"},"modified":"2015-01-02T07:37:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-02T07:37:30","slug":"playstation-users-affected-christmas-attack-offered-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/01\/playstation-users-affected-christmas-attack-offered-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"PlayStation users affected by Christmas attack offered gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sony is offering its PlayStation owners a five-day membership extension after the company’s network was taken down on Christmas Day by an external attack.<\/p>\n
Owners \u2014 many of them new after receiving the console for Christmas \u2014 were unable to connect to the network due to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the Sony system. The attack bombarded the network with huge amounts of traffic, stopping playstation owners connecting to it.<\/p>\n
Hacker group Lizard Squad claimed responsibility on Twitter (the tweets have now been deleted) for the Dec. 25 attack , which lasted for three days. Sony announced in a blog post on Dec. 27 that the service had been restored.<\/p>\n
“PlayStation Network is back online,” the company wrote. “As you probably know, PlayStation Network and some other gaming services were attacked over the holidays with artificially high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity and online gameplay.”<\/p>\n
In a follow up post on Thursday, titled “A Holiday Thank You,” Sony offered affected users a gift to show “appreciation for your patience.”<\/p>\n
PlayStation users who had an active membership or a free trial on Dec. 25 will be eligible to receive a membership extension for five days.<\/p>\n
It will be automatically applied to accounts, and if the customer’s account expires by the time it is applied, a five-day PlayStation Plus membership will be offered.<\/p>\n
The company also said they will sweeten the deal by granting a 10% discount coupon to customers, which will be available later in the year.<\/p>\n
“This discount can be used toward content available on PS Store including blockbuster new releases, award winning indie games, game add-ons and season passes, and an enormous selection of TV and Movies,” Sony wrote.<\/p>\n