Is North Korea Behind This Hollywood Studio Getting Hacked?
Riley Walters /
Last week, Sony Pictures was the victim of a cyber intrusion. So far, at least 5 motion pictures, including war film “Fury” with Brad Pitt and the remake of “Annie” starring Jamie Foxx, have subsequently been leaked online.
Speculation has it that North Korea, a known cyber aggressor, may be behind the attacks, even though the group claiming responsibility calls themselves #GOP. Sony plans on releasing its comedy “The Interview” later this month. The movie is about two journalists, played by Seth Rogen and James Franco, who score an interview with Kim Jong-un–and then get asked by the CIA to assassinate him.
North Korea, a known cyber aggressor, has already declared the country will retaliate against the U.S. if the movie is released.
Cyber threats aren’t new for Hollywood. Hollywood has battled against movies being pirated for countless years now, with dozens of movies being leaked online, if not pirated. Causes for the illegal early release of movies may come from one of the thousands of employees that work on a single film, either through an employee’s personal lack of security, or through an employee seeking to make a quick dollar or nab 15 minutes of fame. Other causes include the growing ability of cyber attackers to penetrate studios’ cyber security to gain access to valuable data. Cyber aggressors find any and all weaknesses in order to attack a target’s network systems.
The theft of intellectual property, such as movies, through cyber espionage counts for hundreds of millions lost in revenue each year for businesses and a loss in jobs. The movie industry is just one sector among many that are affected. All businesses, including defense contractors, face the threat of having their creations stolen by either foreign governments or individual actors for profit.
For all in the private and public sectors, increasing cooperation in cyber security is important to help mitigate loses from cyber theft. International cooperation helps mitigate the spread of stolen movies, even though the criminalizing of pirating stolen movies gets a cold shoulder in some countries. And more companies should continue to look towards cyber insurance. For studios, it could help mitigate the loss in sales after their multi-million budget movies get leaked online.
Cyber security is a growing concern for all, and as Hollywood surely knows, is here to stay.