Finland Times

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is currently investigating whether an alleged Finnish member of the group of hackers which attacked the Sony PlayStation’s online platform on Christmas Day had committed any crime in the country.

The man was already known to the police in the past, confirmed Chief Inspector Tero Muurman.

NBI has investigated the issue together with the US authorities.

The Finnish police have the power to investigate the matter only if the crime was committed in the country

“First, it has been clarified whether a crime was committed in Finland. The acts were directed against a foreign company located abroad,” said Tero Muurman.

The crime, which could be aggravated disruption of information system, can carry a punishment of four months to four years in prison.

Muurman said it has to be clarified whether the Finnish person was involved to such an extent that there is a reason to suspect him.

The PlayStation game console, according to Sony, was restored back to normalcy on Sunday.

Sony servers were attacked on Christmas Day. A group calling themselves “Lizard Squad” claimed the responsibility for the attack. The group had also attacked Sony in the past.

The disruption also affected Microsoft’s Xbox online platform, which was restored earlier.

One of the members of the group is thought to be Finnish. UK’s television channel Sky News interviewed a man called Ryan, who claimed the group “Lizard Squad” was behind the hacking and did so out of fun as well as to reveal the console companies’ weak security.

According to Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at computer security company F-Secure, Ryan is a Finn.

“It is based on our own intelligence and (he) has been known prior to the interview,” said Hyppönen.