Following the news that Sony is conducting denial of service attacks from Amazon Web Services http://recode.net/2014/12/10/sony-pictures-tries-to-disrupt-downloads-of-its-stolen-files/ Tim Erlin, director of security and risk at Tripwire explains the potential implications of such activity:
“If Sony is indeed conducting denial of service attacks from Amazon Web Services, they are likely violating the AWS acceptable use policy, regardless of whether the targets are engaged in illegal activity or in possession of Sony property. The AWS AUP explicitly prohibits initiating Denial of Service attacks from their service. It’s unlikely that Amazon would let this activity continue. Taking the step to ‘hack back’ against perceived legitimate targets, based on their own assessment of guilt, presents a myriad of potential legal problems. If Sony manages to disrupt, intentionally or accidentally, a legitimate service in the process, they may be adding to their problems, rather than improving the situation