Items tagged with GOP
Sony just hasn’t been able to catch a break for the past few months. The company was first the subject of a hack attack by Guardians of Peace (with perhaps an assist by Lizard Squad) and more recently fell victim to Lizard Squad’s Christmas Day attack on the PlayStation Network (and Microsoft’s competing Xbox Live). While it took Microsoft roughly a day to get its Xbox Live services restored, the PlayStation Network didn’t become fully operational again until late Saturday, December 27. “PlayStation Network is back online. As you probably know, PlayStation Network and some other gaming services were attacked over the holidays with artificially high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity...
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Sony is still trying to recover from a crippling hack that rocked its corporate networks in late November. Then attacks, which were carried out due to the planned release of the movie The Interview, resulted in leaked personal information, leaked emails and memos, threats against Sony employees and the families, and threats against movie theaters that attempted to show the film. Despite the threats, Sony ended up releasing the movie in theaters — with a much smaller rollout the initially planned — and online with impressive results. While the publicity and news coverage of the Sony hack is dying down as we enter 2015, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
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Sony released “The Interview” in select theaters as well as on YouTube and Google Play despite a massive data breach and terrorist-style threats that were meant to stymie the project. Thanks to the publicity that stemmed from the attack on Sony Pictures, “The Interview” has become Sony’s most successful online movie by raking in $15 million in sales though Saturday. According to Sony, The movie was rented or downloaded over 2 million times since it was released on Tuesday. It is Sony’s highest grossing online release of all time, far outpacing successes such as “Snowpiercer” with $7 million and “Bachelorette” with $8.2 million. Meanwhile, the limited theater release earned...
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It's been quite the month as far as Sony and its film The Interview are concerned. In case you're just joining in, the ongoing saga began last month, when a hacker group calling itself Guardians of Peace (or 'GOP' for short) hit Sony with a crippling attack. At least 10TB of its data was stolen, much of which included employee records and unreleased Sony proprietary content. At that time, it wasn't entirely clear why GOP had such a beef with Sony, but it didn't take long to figure out that The Interview was the primary issue at hand. In The Interview, Seth Rogan and James Franco head to North Korea to get a once-in-a-lifetime interview with the supreme leader Kim Jong-un. That in itself would...
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Despite #GOP’s, the hacker group claiming responsibility for the massive data breach at Sony Pictures, efforts to make sure “The Interview” is never shown in theaters, such is not the case. While Sony originally announced that the movie would not be shown in theaters, it later rescinded that decision and will be showing the movie in select theaters. However, Google has announced that “The Interview” is now available on YouTube and Google Play.According to Google chief legal officer David Drummond, Sony had been contacting various companies to ask if they would make “The Interview” available online. While Google was eager to help, Drummond stated that the security implications were Google’s main...
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Last Wednesday, Sony decided not to release “The Interview” in theatres as the hacking group Guardians of Peace threatened 9/11-style attacks at theaters that showed the movie. However, it appears Sony has decided that it will show “The Interview” in some way according to a company lawyer. On Sunday, attorney for Sony Pictures David Boies said on NBC’s Meet the Press, “Sony only delayed this.” Boies was referring to Sony’s decision to cancel the movie’s Christmas Day release as major theatre chains such as AMC Entertainment, Cinemark, Cineplex Entertainment, and Regal Entertainment Group refused to show the movie. In a statement, Sony announced it had made the...
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It often takes political satire to put situations into perspective, and leave it to the hilarious minds at Saturday Night Live to shining a proper light on North Korea and its involvement in hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment. Actor Mike Myers reprised his role as Dr. Evil, who was none too happy that Kim Jong-un is being lumped together with the world's biggest and most evil super villains. As far as Dr. Evil is concerned, both North Korea and Sony are giving "evil a bad name," something he's obviously qualified to speak about during his repeated attempts to hold the world hostage for millions and billions of dollars, only to be thwarted by that pesky Austin Powers. "I mean what the F, people?...
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What do you call it when a foreign country conducts a massive cyberattack on U.S. soil, steals data such as personally identifiable information and movie scripts, and threatens the lives of Americans if a particular movie is played? An act of "cyber-vandalism," of course! That's the term President Barack Obama used to described North Korea's shenanigans against Sony Pictures Entertainment, which ultimately led to Sony canceling the Christmas Day debut of "The Interview," a far-fetched comedy involving an assassination attempt against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The White House weighed its options carefully when deciding whether or to not even publicly...
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The terrorists win! It looks as those that perpetrated the incredible Sony hack in late November have gotten their wish. We reported earlier this morning that Carmike Cinemas got cold feet following the threat of 9/11-style attacks and decided not to show “The Interview” in its 254 theaters. That was obviously a devastating body blow for Sony, which has already suffered so much from the cyberattack. But this afternoon, we learned that four additional theaters chains pulled support for the film, effectively giving Sony and “The Interview” a knockout punch that will result in losses in the millions (if not hundreds of millions once the postmortem of the hack is conducted). The four additional chains...
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Things just keep going from bad to worse for Sony and the upcoming release of “The Interview,” a film that plots the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The company was hit with a massive cyberattack in November and the resultant fallout has included leaked internal documents, social security numbers of employees, and email exchanges between Sony executives and top Hollywood stars. Sony employees and their families have also been targeted with threats, and the perpetrators of the attack — which call ironically call themselves Guardians of Peace (#GOP) — have even resorted to blackmail schemes to further them. Now things are just getting to the point of ridiculousness, as the hackers...
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While Sony Entertainment Pictures is still reeling from a security breach that caught the company with its pants down, the organization that is claiming responsibility is threatening more virtual wedgies. Known as Guardians of Peace (#GOP), the group says more leaks are coming, but is willing to refrain from releasing private information of any Sony employees who drop the group a line. "Message to SPE Staffers. We have a plan to release emails and privacy of the Sony Pictures employees," reads a posting by #GOP, according to Recode. "If you don't want your privacy to be released, tell us your name and business title to take your name off." The open invitation to request removal was posted on...
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Sony has unleashed its legal beagles following a massive ransomware attack that resulted in scores of stolen data, including movie scripts, marketing materials, social security numbers and passport information for high profile actors and actresses, and more. However, Sony isn't siccing its legal team on the party responsible for the attack -- not yet, anyway -- and is instead targeting media outlets with demands to stop publishing information contained in stolen documents. At least three news outlets have received a letter from David Boies, an attorney for Sony, Reuters reports. They include The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety. They've each been ordered to nuke the information...
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It looks like the constant pain Sony's feeling isn't going to be seeing relief anytime soon. In late November, we learned of an unparalleled breach that affected the company, which unfortunately not only leaked lots of corporate info, but also sensitive information for thousands of its employees. Since word of the breach came down, we've learned more and more about how it played out, including the fact that undetectable malware was the root cause. We also know that a group that calls itself Guardians of Peace is claiming responsibility. Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;...
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U.S. businesses have been advised to be on high alert as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns of a highly sophisticated Iranian hacking operation targeting various firms around the world. It's the same operation that cyber security outfit Cylance Inc. investigated a week ago, in which it uncovered more than 50 victims in 16 countries, including the U.S. Cylance called it Operation Cleaver.The FBI's warning was included in a confidential "Flash" report that Reuters claims to have seen and is filled with technical details about malware and the various techniques cyber criminals are using to pull off these large scale attacks. It also contains advice for businesses on how to protect themselves...
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Anyone who thinks hacking is harmless has never had to pay the bill following the aftermath. For Sony, the tab to clean up the mess left behind by the recent ransomware attack on its systems could reach as high as $100 million, no small sum even for a major movie studio. The only good news is that the tally will likely be less than the estimated $171 million Sony paid as a result of hackers infiltrating its PlayStation Network (PSN) several years ago.Cybersecurity experts who have studied past attacks point out that there are costs associated with investigating the security breach, repairing and/or replacing infected systems, and beefing up security so that future attacks of the same nature don't...
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Since the massive security breach at Sony Pictures has occurred, speculation has been that North Korea was behind it. Sony, with the help of cybersecurity firm Mandiant and the FBI, has been investigating the perpetrators behind the breach. However, a senior FBI official stated has stated that government agency has not confirmed that North Korea is behind the attack, “There is no attribution to North Korea at this point,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation assistant director of its cyber division Joe Demarest on Tuesday at a cybersecurity conference sponsored by Bloomberg Government. This is the first time that a senior FBI official has said anything publicly regarding the...
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North Korea isn't the least bit amused about Sony's upcoming comedy flick "The Interview" in which actors James Franco and Seth Rogen participate in a fictional plot to assassinate its leader, Kim Jong-un. Even though it disapproves of the movie, North Korea is denying any and all involvement in a recent hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment that resulted in the theft and release of various data, including social security numbers belonging to actors. The massive ransomware attack on Sony is said to be unprecedented in nature due to the use of undetectable malware. Fallout from the attack involves 100 terabytes of stolen data including full movies that have since been leaked...
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Sony was rocked by a massive ransomware attack in late November, and is still reeling from the effects. Most recently, Sony employees have been on the receiving end of threatening emails from the perpetrators of the hack: Guardians of Peace (#GOP). Now we’re beginning to learn a bit more about the hack courtesy of Mandiant, the cybersecurity firm brought in for digital forensics analysis. While the investigation is still ongoing, email correspondence from Mandiant founder Kevin Mandia and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton has been provided to Variety. Lynton sent out an email to employees on Saturday discussing the attack, but couldn’t give much solace to the 3,800 employees that had their...
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It appears that things are going from bad to worse when it comes to the recent Sony Pictures Entertainment breach. Sony experienced a security breach last month and the fallout from the attack continues to mount. Not only has sensitive financial information been released — including the salaries of high-ranking Sony executives — but more damaging personal information including 47,000 Social Security numbers of employees and actors have been leaked to the internet. In addition, upcoming Sony Pictures Entertainment films "Annie," "Still Alice," "Mr. Turner," "To Write Love on Her Arms" and "Fury" have found their way to various sharing sites around the Internet. “Fury”, a World War II drama starring...
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On November 24, Sony Pictures became the victim of a massive ransomware hack that resulted in the company shutting down its computer network. Since then, Sony Pictures has been investigating the possibility that it was North Korean hackers behind the attack, according to Variety.According to unnamed sources speaking to Variety, Sony has no evidence that the attack was carried out by an individual, or group, with ties to North Korea, but the company is looking into all possible sources. Speculation of the attackers’ origin are based on the fact that it occurred a month before Sony’s new movie, "The Interview” would be released in theaters. The movie, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, is about...
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It appears that Sony has become the victim of a massive ransomware hack which has resulted in the company shutting down. An unnamed source spoke to Business 2 Community claiming that the company shut down after its computers in New York and around the nation were infiltrated. The source, according to the website, is an ex-employee of Sony Pictures who has a friend that still works for the company. According to the source’s friend, allegedly, every computer in Sony’s New York Office, and every Sony Pictures’ office across the nation, bears an image from the hacker with the headline “Hacked By #GOP” which is then followed by a warning. The hacker, or group, claims to have obtained corporate...
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California Assemblyman Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) has proposed legislation that would probably make people look askance at California again. Seriously, he has proposed AB-255, a bill that would require online mapping services such as Google Earth to blur satellite images of schools, hospitals, churches, and government buildings, all in the name of security. Those not in compliance would face heavy fines, $250,000 for each day, in fact. The bill states: (a) An operator of a commercial Internet Web site or online service that makes a virtual globe browser available to members of the public shall not provide aerial or satellite photographs or imagery of a building or facility in this state that...
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