"The Interview" and Sony hacks.

[MannDude]

So I'm sure you've all heard the news. The comedy movie that portrayed North Korea in a negative light has prompted attacks on Sony and terrorist threats by North Korea. As a result, the movie has been 'disappeared' and no longer going to be released. When the news broke, Alamo Theaters in Texas said that they would play, for free, "Team America: World Police" in place of "The Interview", until Paramount pulled the plug and said that no theaters can do any such thing.

The FBI announced within the past hour or two that they can confirm that the attacks stemmed from North Korea. Apparently some even consider this an 'act of war', even though Sony itself isn't even an American company and has a track record of being hacked and compromised in the past.

What are your thoughts on all of this? It's a pretty bizarre situation.

 

[raindog308]

Every time I read the latest developments, it's hard for me to repress a big grin.

Let's remember Sony's past actions:

• In 2005, Sony started distributing rootkits on its music CDs.  They did this for 3 years.  About 22 million CDs.  These rootkits auto-installed and contained malware that was later installed by hackers.  So Sony distributed 22 million rootkits directly to end users's PCs.
• When confronted, Sony said the average consumer wouldn't know what a rootkit was and shouldn't worry about it.  This code was, of course, later exploited by hackers.
• The rootkit contained code from the LAME, VLC, and other projects, and was distributed in violation of those projects' copyright/licenses.

BTW, Sony recently has been launching DDOS attacks because apparently some people are violating its copyrights/licenses.  When did Sony gain the right to launch DDOS attacks and why are they not being prosecuted for that?

Frankly, I am enjoying this entire escapade as a very entertaining episode of karmic retribution.

BTW, I would wager a lot of money that somewhere in Sony there are some sysadmins who were repeatedly told that they were blowing security concerns out of proportion, that management didn't want to spend that much on security, that everything was safe because they had a firewall, etc.

 

[Epidrive]

Hacked? Should have used whmcs, Sony..

 

[DomainBop]

Apparently some even consider this an 'act of war',

Ironic that hacking Sony would be considered an act of war when some of the Sony emails that were released by the hackers showed that the US State Department took an active part in the movie's development, particularly the assassination scene, and US officials were hoping the scene would encourage someone to actually try to assassinate the North Korean leader.

The Daily Beast has unearthed several emails that reveal at least two U.S. government officials screened a rough cut of the Kim Jong-Un assassination comedy The Interview in late June and gave the film—including a final scene that sees the dictator’s head explode—their blessing.

The claim that the State Department played an active role in the decision to include the film’s gruesome death scene is likely to cause fury in Pyongyang. Emails between the Sony Entertainment CEO and a security consultant even appear to suggest the U.S. government may support the notion that The Interview would be useful propaganda against the North Korean regime.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/exclusive-sony-emails-allege-u-s-govt-official-ok-d-controversial-ending-to-the-interview.html

 

[DomainBop]

BTW, I would wager a lot of money that somewhere in Sony there are some sysadmins who were repeatedly told that they were blowing security concerns out of proportion, that management didn't want to spend that much on security, that everything was safe because they had a firewall, etc.

You're not the only one who thinks Sony was lax on security, a class action lawsuit was filed in federal court on Monday by some Sony employees alleging the same thing.

copy of the court filing: https://pdf.yt/d/efXwhLuA5fZWi6S7

 

[souen]

Such is the level of incompetence at that company to not see the backlash coming. How they ever thought it was a great idea to put out a movie staging the killing of a living political leader, let alone depict it so graphically ... they set themselves up for trouble from opposing camps.

Playstation Network hacked again ... yeah, I'd say that counts as lax on security.

 

[drmike]

This is nothing more than powers that be pushing SOPA + PIPA + whatever other draconian measure to beat up citizens for piracy, proximity to or suspected thought crimes.

RAND Corporation person gave intel about the hack that started it and person who did so supposedly is expert and published author on North Korea politics.  Nowhere did said person dole out any mention of North Korea being involved in said attack.

North Korea hasn't claimed responsibility either.

Regardless of what the talking air heads on TV keep parroting from the Whitehouse.

The NK relationship came from a Republican Congressman I do believe who just slid that name in there.

 

[GaleDribble]

I don't know. I'd like to think it was North Korea's Bureau 121 which actually operates out of China.

 

[MannDude]

Now Sony is saying they're willing to release it.

Sheesh. All this free publicity and hype, it better be halfway decent. I'd probably not have been too interested in watching it before, seems to be High School-ish humour but I'll admit that I do want to see it now. =/

 

[GaleDribble]

Well now all of North Korea's internet is out: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/23/world/asia/attack-is-suspected-as-north-korean-internet-collapses.html

What would be funnier, instead of knock it out, would be to reroute traffic to Google or other censored sites that'd give those who do have access to the internet there, access to uncensored internet instead.

 

[drmike]

Now Sony is saying they're willing to release it.

Sheesh. All this free publicity and hype, it better be halfway decent. I'd probably not have been too interested in watching it before, seems to be High School-ish humour but I'll admit that I do want to see it now. =/

I'll let you waste your time watching this hatchet film.   Cliff notes appreciated.   I'll send popcorn.

 

[QuadraNet_Adam]

Freedom has prevailed! Go watch "The Interview!"

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-interview-now-available-on-google.html

About to buy the HD movie on Google