When I first encountered this story, I had little interest in reporting it at all. A blogger, however well-intentioned, taking the ramblings of a few script kiddies in an IRC chatroom seriously and posting it as a “CNET Exclusive” seems hardly newsworthy. Journalistic integrity must have some minimum standard. We report things all the time which aren’t from SOE or a press release, but they have SOME basis in fact.

However the story that an attack is planned for this weekend seems to have gotten some traction and is now making the rounds and being quoted by larger news organizations as “reported by CNET”. So we feel we should address it.  Erica Ogg, CNET blogger, has posted an article positing that a third attack on Sony services is being planned for this weekend.

A group of hackers says it is planning another wave of cyberattacks against Sony in retaliation for its handling of the PlayStation Network breach.

Her source?

An observer of the Internet Relay Chat channel used by the hackers told CNET today that a third major attack is planned this weekend against Sony’s Web site. The people involved plan to publicize all or some of the information they are able to copy from Sony’s servers, which could include customer names, credit card numbers, and addresses, according to the source. The hackers claim they currently have access to some of Sony’s servers.

Blogging without sources or attribution is just speculation and should be taken as such. The article reads as if the information has been confirmed with secondary sources. It hasn’t.