Hackers plan third attack on Sony

Hackers are planning a third attack on Sony in retaliation for its handling of the PlayStation Network and Online Entertainment services data breaches, according to US reports.

The attack on Sony's website is planned for this weekend, says a CNet report, citing an unnamed observer of the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel used by the hackers.

According to the source, the hackers claim to have access to some of Sony's servers and plan to publish information they are able to copy from those servers.

Although Sony has stopped short of blaming the hacker group known as Anonymous for the latest breaches, it said in a letter to a Congressional hearing that it had found a file named "Anonymous" containing a fragment of the group's slogan, "We are Legion".

Anonymous has a history of denial-of-service attacks against Sony websites in retaliation for Sony's legal action against hacker George Hotz, but the group has denied responsibility.

Anonymous has never been known to have engaged in credit card theft, the group said in a statement.

According to the group, whoever broke into Sony's servers to steal the credit card information and left a document blaming Anonymous clearly wanted Anonymous to be blamed.

"No one who is actually associated with our movement would do something that would prompt a massive law enforcement response. On the other hand, a group of standard online thieves would have every reason to frame Anonymous in order to put law enforcement off the track," the statement says.

In an attempt to tackle criticism for its handling of the breach, Sony has issued a letter to customers in which it blames forensic analysis for delays in notifying customers that their personal data may have been stolen.

The company has also promised to help protect customers from identity theft around the world and offer a "Welcome Back" package, including free subscriptions, once its networks are restored.