750°

Teenage Gamer Somehow Can Disconnect People From PSN If You “Disrespect” Him

It seems a certain teenage gamer on PSN can intentionally disconnect people from Sony's online platform if he feels someone slighted him. His PSN ID and YouTube account are mentioned just in case you might fall victim to his acts. Someone did the right thing and report him to his parents.

Switch4One1977d ago (Edited 1977d ago )

Wait, what?? How is this even a thing?

rainslacker1977d ago

Isn't so much a PSN thing. When you do P2P with someone, you can see their IP address. If you know how, you can force a connection to close on their end.

Anyone with a decent understanding of networking IT can probably do this.

Switch4One1977d ago

You explained to me what he did, not how he did it and why it's possible on any network not just PSN.

Retroman1976d ago (Edited 1976d ago )

Explain how they ( online gamers) contact his parents to report it .

knickstr1976d ago

Doesnt explain why they couldn't sign back into PSN though.

rainslacker1976d ago

I'm not going to go into great detail on how this is done, at least from the looks of it here as not enough info was given to give a definitive statement, because I don't really care to encourage people to get ideas on what they may be able to do to grief others. There are other places people can go to learn that kind of thing, and its not really appropriate here.

However, since it never hurts to know how one can protect themselves, It's an exploit with the typical router firewall that most people have. If you know someone's IP address, you can force their router to think that an attack is coming from another specific IP address, which in this case would be PSN. If the victim could change their PSN IP access address, they should be able to reconnect to PSN.

Chances are, resetting one's firewall, or giving permissions to that IP specifically to allow access for whatever PSN is, will allow him access. The actual spoofed attack would be relatively harmless to the network, so if it comes through, it's just some empty packets which don't actually do anything to the hardware that it may be sent to.

The downside is, is that opening such a connection could also allow other more dangerous hacks to come in, and if one uses a system which is more open...like a PC or mobile device, then it's possible to tunnel through that allowed connection, so there are other measures that should be taken to protect one's data from those who have more ill intent than this guy.

Personally, I wouldn't suggest anyone worry about it, but should they find themselves the victim of something like this, check your router firewall settings first, and just remove the block to the PSN IP's address that would have been created during the actual attack. Those events should be in the firewall's log file. If it happens again, contact your ISP so they can help you if you aren't familiar with network security. They're usually pretty good about that, and can even track down attacks and take care of the other person for you.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1976d ago
mattxd921976d ago (Edited 1976d ago )

Edit: as far as the article goes though this seems more than a P2P instance since they were being disconnected from PSN and this was more in response to another comment to you. Seems more likely that the kid was running something that possibly blacklisted their public IP address but its hard to say, the article doesn't have a lot of info.

To explain a little further you can easily see what is connecting to your network if you have access to your router and it supports the functionality. When services use peer to peer connection or P2P its connecting that pc to yours if you are the host. Think old CODMW2 when it would constantly redirect host which would happen if the host rage quit from dying too much (lol). All you have to (this is simplifying) is figure out which is the IP address of the person you are connected with thats annoying you and disconnect him from your network usually by just selecting a setting to cancel their connections. On my router at home I can see all devices connected and can just click a button to disconnect. Its a bit more than that for a connection like this but the principle is the same.

mattkelly19911976d ago

There are a lot of ways to close a connection. You can use your router or other software to do it fairly easily.

Knightofelemia1977d ago

Have a feeling Sony is going to run this kid through the ringer and most likely perma ban the console and probably delete his account. I hope Sony brings criminal charges to this kid also I doubt the kids parents give a shit but when the cops show up and they get a lawsuit from Sony I will laugh my ass off at this kid.

Shikoku1977d ago

Wait a minute this kid is disconnecting you not banning you or taking over your account thats a bit much there guy.

Avernus1977d ago

Intentionally manipulating PSN / exploiting it to cause others an inconvenience... I can't tell if he's doing it over PSN, or finding their IP's and DDoS'ing them.

Both are crimes, so I don't know what you mean by "a bit much".

bradfh1977d ago (Edited 1977d ago )

@Shikoku
its illegal to intentionally impair the operation of a computer or prevent or hinder access to a program/data on a computer unless you are authorised to do so

rainslacker1977d ago

Technically, what this kid is doing is a federal, and potentially an international crime, and if any one of the the people he does this to files a complaint, the FBI is actually obligated to investigate and the US Attorney obligated to prosecute. If its an international crime, then there are different agencies that can be contacted, but it will depend on where they are located, but most people should contact their local law enforcement(FBI in the US).

They may not hop on it right away, but they will at least issue a request to the person's ISP, which will probably cause them more disruption than a momentary interruption from one's service. ISP's aren't going to be culpable for hosting a hacker, and this guy seems like he's not really all that good at hacking. Any hacker that brags about his exploits, and is so petty to hack someone in such a stupid way because you disrespect him in a game is probably just some script kiddie that read how to do this on the net.

Most likely someone will complain to Sony, and they'll ban him for using PSN for illegal purposes, and he's likely to be griefed now that there is an article about it, but hopefully others will at least make sure he's guilty before doing something illegal in return. Idiots like this don't typically last long after they start bragging about it.

Funny thing is, when I worked IT security, I could do much worse to people who attacked our networks unless they were really good....and the really good ones were typically in and out before a breach was even suspected, much less noticed, and it could take quite some time to track down the breach and where it came from....if it was even possible. If this guy attacked my home server and managed to disconnect me, I would probably just think I lost my connection, but if he bragged, I'd certainly know where it came from, because apparently the guy is telling his victims what he's doing.

Kados1977d ago (Edited 1977d ago )

@rainslacker:

Only technically it isn't a crime. If this is a forced P2P disconnect, and he is the one who started the game, then he is the host. All the other players are connecting to his system, simply using Sonys servers as an intermediary to establish the initial connection. What he is doing is exactly the same as using the /kick command on a pc game like Diablo. He is not "hacking" or unlawfully accessing anything other than his own internet connection. Since he is the host, if they disconnect from him, they disconnect from the game. All they have to do is join a different game. A simple solution to this would be for Sony to stop being cheap / scamming people, making them pay to host games P2P on their own systems. Set up dedicated servers for all games and the problem is solved.

All you really have to do is use your PC as a wifi hotspot for the PS4, run a simple command prompt line to see all the IPs currently connected to your PC, determine which IP corresponds to which player, then run an IP kick command to disconnect it. You could even add that IP to a blocklist in Peerblock, and they would then no longer be able to join your games in the future. Any monkey with a basic understanding of windows command lines can do it, no hacking or DDos involved.

Sony could ban his account, and probabably will, but as far as taking legal action, they cannot do anything.

rainslacker1977d ago (Edited 1977d ago )

Is he the host? The article says he's disconnecting them from PSN.

If he is just disconnecting people from his own network, then yeah, that's not illegal. But it also means that this article is grossly misrepresenting what is going on here.

RememberThe3571977d ago

Yeah damn... Not sure I really feel like messing with my internet is worth taking your freedom. Maybe have the guy pay a fine, but jail time? Nah man, jail is fckin aweful, lossing your internet connection is annoying. Not really equitable.

RosweeSon1977d ago

Why should some little **** have the ability to take people offline because he feels unfairly dealt with in life... what goes around comes around act like a **** and wonder why people don’t like him if he didn’t go round disconnecting people off services they’ve paid for both internet access and PSN costs money why shouldn’t he be fined banned whatever maybe he wouldn’t be such a lonely sad act some people just like to be ****s

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1977d ago
Lexreborn21977d ago

This isn't a cop intervention level issue at all. People want cops to intervene for the dumbest things. BBQin call the cops, walking call the cops, disconnect from the internet call the cops. Let Sony sort it out and leave it at that

UnholyLight1976d ago

You must be one of these such kids. GUYS WE FOUND HIM.

Lexreborn21976d ago

@UnholyLight no I’m not one of those guys, I just find it a waste of resources to send cops on someone for something like this. If they still your data or take your account from you sure. Disconnecting you? Let that be something sorted between Sony and ISP providers.

There’s plenty of real issues cops can handle then this.

thatguyhayat1977d ago

Spangebaab?

His parents? I hope sony bans this delinquent asap

Deepfryry1977d ago

I picked up a random on Xbox one to play Gambit with, thru LFG. He was bragging that he runs a Facebook group where they take people's gamertags they don't like and everyone mass reports them and gets them thrown off line. I didn't think much of it at the time. I'm trying to kill me a prime evil. But the next morning it was the first thing that popped in to my head when I opened my eyes.

rainslacker1977d ago

I've noticed that the vast majority of people that say they will hack you, or brag about how good they are in public about it...particularly one that has to do it through facebook, are typically completely clueless on how to hack anything. I doubt they'd even be able to ping another person. Think of it this way. I've been on this site for 10 years, and while I'm not a master hacker, this article is probably the first one out of tens of thousands of comments where I actually said I could do worse to someone than kick them off a server. I learned because I spent half my adult life in network security, and often tracked down breaches, and most security breaches, or at least attempts are pretty pathetic and easily done by just looking them up on google.

Prudence should be a thing of course, but a guy using face book to get others to file false reports? Facebook would shut that down, and most server owners aren't so stupid to think that a sudden influx of complaints against someone who likely has never had any is probably not real.

XxINFERNUSxX1977d ago (Edited 1977d ago )

If someone is being a shit bag I support him lol. Hell, since the person is not next to me to slap them in the head (which I would seriously do) disconnecting them from the game seems satisfying enough :D This would be great to use in Overwatch on the PC.

letsa_go1977d ago

There is always one shithead that ruins things for everyone else. That shithead is you!

kneon1977d ago

I think there are already some shenanigans going on in Overwatch. Every single time that I've had a game end due to server error it's always been just seconds away from the game ending, as if someone deliberately attacked the server in some way to avoid losing the game.

Show all comments (66)
30°

The Pokémon Center Re-Releases Its Van Gogh Goods – And Sells Out Most in Under 24 Hours

Seven months after its infamous launch, the Van Gogh Museum is restocking its popular Pokémon collaboration items -- and selling out fast.

100°

Sony Launches BAFTA Game Awards 2024 PlayStation Store Section for Nominees

Sony has launched a BAFTA Game Awards 2024 section on the PlayStation Store that lists the different games nominated this year.

Bathyj4d ago

They did.
It's just empty.

I kid, I kid. 🙂

280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1016d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref6d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde5d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19725d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville5d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21835d ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos5d ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
isarai6d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref6d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan6d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0075d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19726d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

6d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19726d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

6d ago
6d ago
Zeref6d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde5d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19725d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19725d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier5d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto5d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21835d ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto5d ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
Hofstaderman6d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts5d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts4d ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic5d ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)