The PSN is now undergoing an unplanned maintenence which could take up to a maximum of two days to fix.

It is rumoured 'Hactivist' Group 'Anonymous' may be behind the Outage incident after it issued a warning yesterday of a 'revenge' attack on Sony personally. (As of 20/04/11)

Their ominous warning reads;

Congratulations, Sony. You have now received the undivided attention of Anonymous. Your recent legal action against our follow hackers, Geohot and Graf_Chokolo, has not only alarmed us, it has been deemed wholly unforgivable.”

You have now abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information on how your products work. You have victimised your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information, and continue to target every person who seeks this information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands. This is the information they were willing to teach the world for free. The very same information you wish to suppress for sake of corporate greed and complete control of the users.

Now you will experience the wrath of Anonymous. You saw a hornets nest, and stuck your p*nises in it. You must face the consequences of your actions, Anonymous style.

Knowledge is Free. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not Forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.

Judging by their response, Sony have neither confirmed or ruled out such an attack.

I have being saying for YEARS why can't it be made an International law against those who make or distribute harmful software or malicious code? It's not going to put Ant - Virus companies out of the cold, people will STILL need anti Virus protection.

For the moment, Policing the Internet is near impossible as some Cyber criminals hide behind IP shields to prevent detection. (Similar to changing number plates on a car)

And what we are seeing is just one example of an organised group. (These are not kids living with their moms, these are people driven by a very real purpose)

Computers today are so advanced, that with the right program, you could make it do anything.

Cyber terrorism can be a very real thing..

You think an airliner is still safe? There is always a chance that sharp suited businessman sitting next to you has programmed a Surface to air missile, timed to strike at any time using the comfort of his laptop.

There are some Malicious programs that hackers commonly use. One such as the MANIFEST engine. Which Logitech have created themselves as a gateway for 3rd party and 'other' developers that gather your personal information for marketing. But this gateway also allows other unknown parties to also read your personal data and even take control of your webcam when you are not using it..

The ZOMBIE is another such Virus program, hackers can take control of your computer if left in Standby mode and also take control of personal data, it is also rumoured to find information of any bank details stored in your computer which can be transfered into another account..

But if a small organised group can break into a Sony Website and other tech companies, this group is capable of ANYTHING.

As of today there has been an update video from 'Anonymous'warning of future attacks.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-04-21-is-anonymous-behind-psn-outage

This is the new terrorism ladies and gentlemen.
This is the new 9/11..

I think there might be complications with making it an international crime to distribute"harmful software or malicious code".1st what are the exact definitions of those things?Idk but i'd imagine that much of what might be termed"harmful software"has legal purposes and it's the way that it's used that makes it harmful.2nd Unless your advocating a One world government,it might be hard to determine where the crime actually took place and therefore which countries laws would apply.Given the choice between having my computer hacked or having my country lose it's sovereignty I'll let my computer fry.Idk much about hackers,computers,or Internet security but i never hear Microsoft having these issues with their x-box's,could they be doing something to make their systems safer that Sony might wanna consider?Also,we just had a 1.5 update might that not have something to do with the problems we all are now experiencing?I'm not defending hackers or hacking here but as of right now I'm not even sure hacking is responsible for this problem so I'm a long way from joining the viewpoint that we must re-write the law.I agree with Burbie52 that if it is hackers then they are harming us way more than Sony,no matter what their manifesto of the day may claim.

What ever the reason PSN is down, it is causing me to have withdrawals like Lindsey Lohan in rehab. But, just to put a little lipstick on this pig, when PSN comes back it will hopefully more stable. And absents does sometimes make the heart grow fonder.
Sony, I got your back on this one... like Sony needs me as a wingman...he he he

So basically some shoplifters caused this?thanks you idiots,just because you wanted some free stuff you've caused us all to go without.Hope the $10 of free crap you got before they found you out was worth the jail time you hopefully receive.

Sony has released more info... doesn't answer the burning question but for those who want to know"whyyyyyyyy", here is what they are saying...

"An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience."