Hackers threaten to bring down Xbox and PlayStation networks on Christmas

This is what it's like to party with hackers
This is what it's like to party with hackers

A new hacker group is threatening to take down the PlayStationNetwork and Xbox Live, just in time for people to open their new video games on Christmas.

The "Phantom Squad" has been tweeting about its plans for several weeks.

The hackers have already claimed responsibility for other outages on the gaming platforms earlier this year, as well as a recent Reddit outage.

"We will take down servers on christmas Or christmas eve Who Knows? Its up to you Will you waste Your Money On a console This christmas to find that It is #Offline?" the group posted in a series of tweets last week.

Phantom Squad claims that it is motivated to take down the Xbox and PlayStation networks to prove that Microsoft and Sony don't invest enough in cyber security.

"Xbox Live and PSN have millions upon millions of dollars... but do they use that money for better security? No. ... So until they open their eyes Xbox Live and PSN will remain vulnerable," Phantom Squad tweeted on Wednesday.

CNNMoney reached out to the hackers but did not receive a response.

Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) also did not respond to requests for comment.

If Phantom Squad goes through with their plans, it'll be déjà vu for the two companies. Both the PlayStationNetwork and Xbox Live went down for several days at the end of last year.

The PlayStationNetwork was bombarded with "artificially high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity and online gameplay," Sony said at the time.

A different hacker group, the Lizard Squad, claimed responsibility for the denial of service attacks.

Kim Dotcom, the controversial tech entrepreneur and world champion gamer, helped stop the attacks last year and has already weighed in on this year's threat.

"Warning @Sony & @Microsoft," he tweeted last week. "You had 1 year to upgrade your networks. If Lizard Squad takes down PSN & XBOX this Xmas, we'll be pissed!"

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