PHOTO: AFP
The increasingly popular augmented reality game, Pokémon GO came under attack Saturday with a hacking group claiming responsibility for bringing down its servers.
Pokémon GO has drowned out almost all other mobile apps from the limelight recently with studies showing people spending more time on the game, than on Twitter and several other social media sites.
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Servers on Saturday were down almost throughout the entire day with most users having extreme difficulty in accessing their accounts and starting the game.
For those die-hard Pokémon fans looking for someone to blame, an infamous hacking group known as PoodleCorp has claimed responsibility for launching the attack that crashed the Pokémon GO servers.
Although the claim is yet to be verified, the leader of PoodleCorp claimed responsibility on his Twitter account.
"PokemonGo #Offline #PoodleCorp" he tweeted.
https://twitter.com/PoodleCorp/status/754298236093857792
PoodleCorp were also recently involved in the hacking of some famous YouTube channels like Pewdiepie.
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The hackers used a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack, where the culprits crash a server by flooding it with so many requests that it cannot cope. Niantic has been busy restoring the services globally, with many users still reporting that the game is freezing or not allowing them to log in.
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Users experienced similar problems earlier this month due to the overwhelming response that the app received. Niantic was not prepared for so many users and hence servers went down. However, Niantic is working round the clock to improve on feedback received and fixing bugs and security weaknesses that currently exist.
Many frustrated gamers took to Twitter to share their disappointment with many suggesting solutions for the game to be played in offline mode.
UPDATE : All servers appear to be offline. Hang in there, trainers! #PokemonGO
— Pokemon News (@TrainerINTEL) July 16, 2016
As the Pokémon Go servers go offline the streets empty as trainers return home to rest their phones.
— Razz (@Razzbowski) July 16, 2016
#PokemonGo needs an offline mode so you can still track your walking and hatch eggs even if the servers are down 😖
— Lacey✨(is already missing) PAX East (@laceyxiii) July 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/triforcemeg/status/754339961118289920
https://twitter.com/PhillyD/status/754341651187798018
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