"Pokemon Go" servers were reportedly crashed on July 16 by group of hackers calling themselves, PoodleCorp. App developer Niantic Labs has so far refused to issue a statement about the alleged attack.
Not much information is known about PoodleCorp except that it's composed of at least 6 people, according to the Daily Mail. The group boasted their accomplishment through Twitter and using the hash tags, PokemonGo #Offline #PoodleCorp.
It is assumed that the group used a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. It is an old method but still effective way of crashing servers. The hackers would use thousands or even millions of comprised computers or botnets to crash the server by overwhelming it with requests for access or information.
In the case of Niantic Labs and Pokemon Go, this is not a hard thing to do. The company's servers have crashed several times due to the sheer number of its players. The developer has issued an official tweet at #PokemonGo, saying that they are doing their best to put the servers back online. The tweet also thanked the players for the patience and will inform them if the game is up and running again.
Players may have to bear with frequent server crashes especially now that 26 European countries have joined the Pokemon hunt on since July 16.
Meanwhile, many players vented their frustration and anger by posting comments and memes in social media sites such as Twitter. Some pleaded with Niantic to fix the problem as soon as possible. However, a number of players posted amusing and mildly insulating caricatures of a Niantic Labs server room.
Pokemon Go is the wildly mobile app game that is spreading around the world. It is available for both for the Android and iOS mobile devices. The gameplay uses augmented reality, real world location and Nintendo's Pokemon characters. Creatures can be found in various game designated Pokestops.
