Media giant Sony Pictures, is the latest to be victimized by a cyber attack that paralyzed its internal systems and leaked sensitive documents ranging from coming products to pay information, on the 24th of November . Having disrupted the internal machinery of the company, it has also triggered a frenzy further leading to statements of disclaimer.
Calling the hack attack ‘righteous,’ North Korea, believed to be behind the attack owing to a report published by Recode, issued a statement claiming otherwise :
“We do not know where in America the Sony Pictures is situated and for what wrongdoings it became the target of the attack, nor [do] we feel the need to know about it,” the statement carried in state media said. “But what we clearly know is that the Sony Pictures is the very one which was going to produce a film abetting a terrorist act while hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership [of North Korea].”
The leak included five films directly hitting their performance at the box office as well as private information of more than 6,000 employees and stars Washington Post reports that the malware used was similar to that used against businesses in South Korea and the Middle East.
However, a memo release by Sony, rubbishes any claims against North Korea, calling the Recode report, “not accurate”. “This is the result of a brazen attack on our company, our employees and our business partners. This theft of Sony materials and the release of employee and other information are malicious criminal acts,” the memo added.
Experts warn of the volatility of corporations and enterprises against such attacks. “The only way to fully protect yourself from something like this is to shut down your business,” explains Paul Proctor, chief of research for security and risk management at Gartner.
“A dedicated enemy with sufficient resources can compromise any security system,” he further added. “There is no such thing as perfect protection. This is just a demonstration of it. People who believe they can be protected are likely to have their trust shaken by reality.”
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(Image credit: Luke Ma)
