Tom Kellermann, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro, the private security firm, said that unlike stealth attacks from China and Russia, Sony’s hackers not only aimed to steal data, but also to send a clear message.
CINEMA STUDIO A SONY MOVIE
The breach exposed two things the secretive movie industry is extremely sensitive about - the piracy of films and details about executive compensation - and sent a ripple of dread across Hollywood to Washington.Īlthough large attacks on companies are increasingly common, this one has played out like one of Sony’s own thrillers, with macabre images on computer screens of studio executives’ severed heads and theories that the attack could be retribution from North Korea for a coming Sony comedy about an assassination attempt on that country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The documents were published late Monday on Pastebin, the anonymous Internet posting site. Executives at the entertainment company said they were also making progress in fighting the apparently related Internet pirating of five complete films, including the unreleased “Annie.”īut Sony was newly rattled by the leak of internal documents, one of which contained the pre-bonus annual salaries of senior executives, showing 17 who earn more than $1 million a year. 24 breach by a group calling itself #GOP, for Guardians of Peace. Sony, the studio behind “The Amazing Spider-Man” films and the “Breaking Bad” television series, restarted many of its computer systems on Monday after a Nov.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned United States businesses of a similar threat, and additional Sony secrets were leaked online. LOS ANGELES - Just as Sony Pictures Entertainment appeared to be recovering from a crippling online attack last month, the studio found itself confronting new perils on Tuesday.