Pokémon Go servers were reportedly attacked on Saturday.* Who—outside of maybe Team Rocket—would do such a thing?
A cyber collective known as PoodleCorp, which has previously targeted YouTube stars and which is presumably comprised of humans, not poodles, has announced that it was behind the Distributed Denial of Service, or DDOS, attack. PoodleCorp also threatened to do “something on a larger scale soon.” Their claim of responsibility has not yet been verified.
Pokémon Go servers also crashed shortly after the game launched earlier in July. They were unprepared for the societal demand for the chance to catch Pokémon.
Society, meanwhile, has proven unprepared for Pokémon Go. Since the game’s launch, people have tried to catch ’em all while running through Arlington National Cemetery, visiting the Holocaust Museum and Auschwitz, climbing cliffs, and driving. Video has also emerged of a Central Park stampede in pursuit of Vaporeon, an Eevee evolution. (On the one hand, this is understandable. Vaporeon is a rare Pokémon. On the other hand, Vaporeon, being an animated character, was not really there.)
*Correction, July 16, 2016: This post originally misstated that the servers were hacked. They were attacked by a hacking group.
