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Author
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Topic: Sony Hack Hits Home
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David Buckley
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 525
From: Oxford, N. Canterbury, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted 12-18-2014 11:48 PM
quote: Michael Riley
While it's essentially impossible for NK to attack us based on our current understanding of their military power...
Thats a very 19th century view, thinking that an attack requires a good old fashioned military assult on the USA. The USA could be brought to its knees, economically and functionally, by a cyber attack, without a shot being fired. The USA is, of course, not unique in this respect, most modern economies could be subject to the same fate.
Cyber warfare has moved from being the stuff of science fiction, into science fact. Stuxnet illustrated that a sufficiently motivated and creative team can build malware that can cross air gaps, and inflict physical damage. Stuxnet is now a good few years ago, and the creatives behind leading edge malware have not been on holiday in the interim. There are now a number of countries that are very active in the cyber warefare space, both friendlies and unfriendlies, and they are all well resourced.
If one fancies some light reading then the Cylance report on what they have called "Operation Cleaver" makes an interesting read. This is information in the public domain, publicly available, and one can safely assume that this knowledge is several years behind the state of the art.
This risks here are more than a poor security posture (shared by almost all commercvial companies) and a shit firewall configuration. Even organisations that take security seriously are discovering they have been hit, and generally, companies have no idea that it has happened. Smaller companies simply don't have the resources to even make a half decent fist of security.
Its a brave new world. We're still waing for the first 21st century equivalent of the A bomb to bve dropped.
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Terry Lynn-Stevens
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1081
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Dec 2012
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posted 12-19-2014 12:30 PM
quote: Mike Blakesley
I guess there's also the possibility that "they" didn't just get Sony.....maybe "they" got WalMart too, for example, and they're just waiting until this furor dies down before unleashing the next one.
I've been thinking for a long time that the next world war will be a cyber-war, not a military one. This could be the start of it, who knows?
I think this is a tough one, it very well could be the start of the next World War, however North Korea really does not stand much of a chance if there was any military campaign against the country. It would be over pretty quick.
I also have a feeling that the US will discover that North Korea has the capability to cyber attack telecommunications, subways or other large facilities. If any of these are vulnerable, I think a military response against North Korea's telecommunications and command and control will happen some time in the next few weeks. Eventually at some point in time, the US will have to confront North Korea, especially if they have United States interests already targeted.
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-19-2014 12:51 PM
This is starting to sound downright Simon Barsinister-ish.
Source: Hackers send new message to Sony
By Brian Stelter @brianstelter December 19, 2014: 11:11 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Link
The hackers behind a devastating cyberattack at Sony Pictures have sent a new message to executives at the company, crediting them for a "very wise" decision to cancel the Christmas day release of "The Interview," a source close to the company told CNN.
The email message was received by Sony's top executives on Thursday night and was obtained by CNN.
The source said that the company believes the email was from the hackers because it followed a pattern of previous messages, sent to a list of particular executives and formatted in a particular way.
A Sony spokesman declined to comment.
The hacker message is effectively a victory lap, telling the studio, "Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy."
The message also says, "And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately."
It warns the studio executives that "we still have your private and sensitive data" and claims that they will "ensure the security of your data unless you make additional trouble."
The email was titled "Message from GOP." The anonymous hackers have called themselves "Guardians of Peace."
Sony is still reeling from the late November cyberattack that crippled its computer systems, and now it is under severe scrutiny for canceling the Christmas release of "The Interview," Seth Rogen and James Franco's comedy about an attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
U.S. officials now believe North Korea instigated the hack, lending credence to the Sony executives who privately started calling it a "terrorist act" weeks ago.
Since the cancellation on Wednesday, the same executives have been wondering whether the leaks of private emails and corporate documents would now stop.
Thursday night's message implied that the leaks will stop.
In a statement on Wednesday when the film's release was scrapped, the company said "we stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome."
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Carsten Kurz
Film God
Posts: 4340
From: Cologne, NRW, Germany
Registered: Aug 2009
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posted 12-19-2014 03:16 PM
Well at least some people do have balls:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/author-paulo-coelho/1538304.html
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In a Twitter post, the internationally acclaimed author offered Sony Pictures US$100,000 to buy the movie that is believed to have sparked the cyber-theft of confidential information from the company.
SINGAPORE: It appears that internationally acclaimed author Paulo Coelho is willing to pay for the right to "say no to terrorist threats".
On Thursday (Dec 18), he tweeted an offer to buy the rights to The Interview, a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. The film, which stars James Franco and Seth Rogen, is believed to have sparked a cyber-attack which saw hackers gain access to Sony's confidential documents and unreleased movies. Reports have speculated that North Korea is behind the hack.
Sony Pictures announced on Wednesday that it decided to cancel the movie's release after American theatre chains said they would not screen the movie, due to threats of attacks from self-proclaimed cyber-terrorists. "We respect and understand our partners' decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theatre-goers," the studio said in a statement.
In his tweet, Mr Coelho said he would post the movie for free on his blog if he could buy the rights for US$100,000.
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- Carsten
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Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-19-2014 04:15 PM
Well this makes a lot of sense, I have to say. It's always good to step back and consider the big picture before going off half-cocked.
Link
Dear Twitter: Sony and Theater Owners Aren’t to Blame
December 18, 2014 | 05:02PM PT
Andrew Wallenstein
It’s been a rough month for Sony Pictures Entertainment, to say the least.
First came the calamitous hack, then came damaging leaks, which were amplified by massive media coverage and, finally, the withdrawal of “The Interview” from theaters (and any other kind of release).
All of this was unavoidable. But what came next wasn’t.
News of the pullout was greeted by a flurry of derisive tweets from high-profile talent who ripped the decision for many different reasons. Comedy stars should know a thing or two about bad timing, but it came across as insensitive given that the studio — as well as the exhibitors — were trying to do the right thing.
Take your pick of the nitpicking (some excerpted below): An act of cowardice. A victory for censorship and a loss for freedom of speech. A bad setting of precedent that invited other terrorists to do same.
They’re entitled to their opinions, but they’re being short-sighted. Given that the scope of this cyber-attack is uncharted territory not just for Sony but for the entire country, proceeding with caution was the right call.
Think what you want about Sony did, but is there anyone who really believes the studio didn’t have honorable intentions? Sony was faced with a no-win situation: Keeping the movie in theaters risked a tragic incident that, even if chances were minimal, would have been an economic disaster for the entire movie business had the hackers made good on their threat.
Yanking the film, one could argue, was actually the more selfless move that contained the damage to Sony, which can kiss its marketing spend goodbye at a time when it actually stood to gain from all the publicity surrounding the controversy. Studios with competing films at the box office may want to send a thank-you note.
But rather than drone on any longer on this subject, let’s take it on a tweet-by-tweet basis.
. @JuddApatow I agree wholeheartedly. An un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 17, 2014
“Cowardice” is an offensive criticism, Jimmy, considering Sony and the exhibitors were just being prudent given the threat risk. Had they put “The Interview” in theaters, they could have faced an even harsher criticism: that they were being reckless given the known threat.
#TheInterview Is that all it takes – an anonymous threat and the numbers 911 – to throw free expression under the bus? #PussyNation
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) December 17, 2014
Sorry, Bill, but this wasn’t a random teenager calling in a bomb threat at his local high school to get out of a math test. It’s a dangerous nation-state that already proved its capability to pull off a sophisticated cyber-attack, which made the potential for a violent outbreak worth taking seriously.
Sad day for creative expression. #feareatsthesoul
— Steve Carell (@SteveCarell) December 17, 2014
I feel you, Steve, fear is never a good thing. But it can be a sensible reaction in the face of a very unpredictable threat. There seems to be a lot of wounded pride out there because North Korea scored a victory, but this war is far from over, and there should be hope and optimism that justice will prevail in the long run.
Canceling "The Interview" seems like a pretty horrible precedent to set.
— Zach Braff (@zachbraff) December 17, 2014
I see your point, Zach, but is there really a line forming behind North Korea now of rogues who have such pressing grievances with movies in Hollywood’s development pipeline that they’re ready to attack us over it? Don’t bet on it– this is a unique situation. Safety should take precedence…over fears of setting a precedent.
Dear Sony Hackers: now that u run Hollywood, I'd also like less romantic comedies, fewer Michael Bay movies and no more Transformers.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) December 17, 2014
No offense taken, Michael. Finally, a tweet on which we can all agree.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 12-19-2014 04:46 PM
The decision actually to pull the release does not reflect well on Sony. Keeping the general release date but letting theaters and chains cancel their bookings without penalty would have been a lot smarter: not giving in to terrorism, but at the same time absolving themselves of responsibility if anything bad happened at a venue which did actually show it.
The fact that they've actually pulled the release says to me that either a bad judgment, or that they perceive a continuing threat which could materialize if they pressed ahead. If the hackers got the home addresses of Sony employees, then that's a potential continuing threat, alright. And with that information, you wouldn't need to be a particularly well-resourced terrorist outfit to cause serious harm to relatively low-level Sony staffers, which would be an even worse PR nightmare for Sony.
Frankly, I'm astonished that Amy Pascal has kept her job as long as this. An IT security breach this serious (and as an earlier poster points out, there was allegedly 100 TB of stuff taken, and unless it was removed from their lot on physical media, it would have taken tens of hours to upload out on even the fastest connection imaginable) is surely something that the board of any competently run business should hold its chief executive directly responsible for, if only to maintain the confidence of their shareholders.
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