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Widespread DDoS Attack Has PSN and the Internet Limping Today in the US [UPDATE]

The attack was temporarily halted this morning, but is underway again.

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Update 3: The issues have been fixed once again, though it remains to be seen if any further attacks will take place.

Update 2: Dyn reported again that the issues had been resolved, but another round of attacks is underway that it's attempting to counteract. While earlier reports suggested the effect was being primarily felt on the East coast, it's clear the issues extend well beyond that region.

Update: The Department of Homeland Security is now investigating the attack, according to NBC News.

Original Story: If you've been having issues accessing games on the PlayStation Network, websites, and online services today, it's not just you.

Early this morning, a distributed denial-of-service, more commonly referred to as a DDoS, targeted internet company Dyn. Those issues were temporarily resolved just after 6 AM PT, but since then, another round of attacks has begun that the company says it's working to resolve.

Image via CNET
Image via CNET

Specifically, Dyn's DNS infrastructure was targeted by the attack, which involves flooding computers with requests in order to slow them down. (It's the same type of attack that crippled PSN and Xbox Live around Christmas 2014.) Put simply, DNS servers are what allow your computer to access websites by using a domain name, rather than an IP address. The attack has slowed (or completely disrupted) the ability for DNS lookups to be performed as usual.

The issues primarily are being experienced by those in the eastern half of the United States, as well as some internet users in western Europe. Among the sites impacted are Twitter, Reddit, Spotify, The New York Times, and Soundcloud.

Players have also reported having issues with the PlayStation Network--they're having trouble playing games like Destiny and FIFA 17 on PS4 and PS3, which Bungie and EA have acknowledged on Twitter, respectively. In the case of FIFA, Ultimate Team match creation has been disabled temporarily. PSN's status page indicates there are no issues currently happening, but a tweet from PlayStation's support account suggests otherwise.

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