The hunt for the people behind the Friday the 13th attacks on the capital of France continues. Some reports even suggest that the Paris attackers may have used the popular gaming console, Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4), to coordinate their plans to sow terror in the City of Lights. Sony has responded to the claims that the console was used for the attacks. The company agrees that the PS4 chat options has the “potential to be abused” by certain individuals.

There are two ways to communicate via PS4. Users can send messages using the PlayStation Network (PSN) or they can chat with multiple persons during games.

Eurogamer received an official statement from Sony's spokesperson:

"PlayStation 4 allows for communication amongst friends and fellow gamers and, in common with all modern connected devices, this has the potential to be abused. However, we take our responsibilities to protect our users extremely seriously and we urge our users and partners to report activities that may be offensive, suspicious or illegal. When we identify or are notified of such conduct, we are committed to taking appropriate actions in conjunction with the appropriate authorities and will continue to do so."

Sony released its official statement after Belgium Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Security and the Interior, Jan Jambon's speech in a debate facilitated by news outlet Politico. Jambon spoke about PlayStation 4, terrorists and communication.

"I hear that the most difficult communication between these terrorists is the Playstation 4. It's very, very difficult for our services-not only Belgian services but international services-to decrypt the communication that is done via Playstation 4," Jambon told Politico at the What Works event in Brussels on Nov. 10, before the Paris attacks on Friday the 13th.

However, it still remains unclear whether the terrorists actually used the gaming console to plot the attacks in France.

This is not the first time that the PlayStation and online games were associated with terrorism and spies. According to Deutsche Welle (DW), Sony’s console was used by a 14-year-old Austrian boy to download blueprints of a bomb that was being planned for a train station in Vienna. The boy reportedly wanted to join the Islamic State (IS).

After pleading guilty to terrorism charges in Vienna last May, he was convicted to two years but 16 months of his term were suspended. He has also spent time in investigative custody, which will also count in his sentence.

ProPublica reports that classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents reveal that online games such as “Second Life” and “World of Warcraft,” were used to gather data and spy on people.

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