Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked on November 24 by the Guardians of Peace, according to The Chicago Tribune. The group left the note "Hacked by #GOP" and a red skull on the screens after they came back online and claimed they would release "secrets" they took from the servers. While no link to North Korea has been discovered as of yet, Sony is suspicious the government, considering their blatant anger at Sony's new film The Interview (see trailer below), where two people are hired to kill Kim Jong Un. Since the hack, at least five new movies have been released online and are now the subject of massive pirating.
| The image that appeared on the screens of Sony computers on November 24. |
"Fury" has been downloaded by over 888,000 unique IP addresses since showing up on peer-to-peer networks on Nov. 27, according to piracy tracking firm Excipio. That's high enough to be the second most downloaded movie currently being pirated, and it's not out of movie theaters yet.
KCNA, the official news agency in isolationist North Korea, quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman in June as promising a "merciless counter-measure" if the film is released.
While terrible from an international relations standpoint, I find this situation to be fascinating from a sociological standpoint (and from the safety of being across an ocean, of course), especially since Sony said they would confirm the accusation that the North Korean government was involved in the hack. The attack proves just how powerful media is and the profound effect it can have on not just an individual's emotions but also on entire governments. Yet the release of the five films is baffling, if #GOP really was working for North Korea, unless the group just did it to distract and mess with the company; after all, the notice it left on the computers is quite vague.
Source:
Tribune Wire Reports. (2014, November 29). Sony looks for possible North Korea link in hacking, movie leak - Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/weird/chi-sony-north-korea-hacking-20141129-story.html
I loved the approach you took in this post, because its not often that we hear about the happenings in North Korea in the media unless its about the inhumane crimes committed there. I never thought about the outside aspects of piracy, especially not about government hacking certain corporations. Very interesting article, would have loved to read more about Sony's reaction to this hacking.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big story over the last couple of weeks not only because piracy is increasing in entertainment media, but also because it is starting to be used as a weapon against American companies.
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