Facebook, Instagram, others taken down by hackers

Outages took down a number of popular Internet services early Monday, including Facebook, Instagram, HipChat and later Twitters. The notorious hacker group The Lizard Squad claimed credit. The group had also taken credit for a hack of the Malaysia Airlines site earlier in the day. The hacking rose to the top of Twitter’s trending topics list, above the #Snowmageddon2015 hashtag that people in the snowy Northeast were using to discuss the unprecedented blizzard that paralyzed life in New England and New York City Tuesday.

The hackers promised another attack soon. DEBKAfile’s cyber expert: The ease of hacking and outing Internet sites which serve many millions of users world wide casts doubts on the effectiveness of existing firewalls and security systems, and raises questions about the lack of US government’s measures for keeping critical websites safe. Lizard Squad also claimed to have brought down Sony’s Play Station on Christmas Eve when a special gift was offered users.