It’s a diplomatic row that has escalated out of a B-grade Hollywood movie to dangerous farce, with North Korea threatening to “strike the whole US mainland”. It’s also raised a fear that hacktivists and terror groups could be joining forces.
Late last month, Sony Pictures was the victim of a cyber attack, which revealed some embarrassing email correspondence between the company’s executives about some of its biggest stars. Along with the salaries of all employees, their medical records and social security numbers, the world became privy to emails detailing that a significant gender pay gap afflicts Hollywood as much as any other field of endeavour. Academy award winner Jennifer Lawrence earned a lot less from the hit movie American Hustle than her male counterparts. We learned that the chief executive of Sony, Amy Pascal thinks actor Adam Sandler is “an asshole” whilst another executive thinks Denzel Washington’s colour should preclude him from starring in international films.
North Korea has turned threatening the United States in to an art form. However, whilst its latest threat could be the plot for Hollywood’s next blockbuster, for internet experts like Eugene Kaspersky the attack should have sent a strong message that there’ll be more attacks of this size and scale of damage.
North Korea has emerged as the likely culprit behind the hacking, given Sony was about to release a new comedy/satire film, The Interview, about a couple of journalists who are co-opted by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korea furiously denies the FBI’s assertion that Pyongyang’s notorious “Bureau 21” hacking unit is behind the attack. Still, after threats from a hacking group known as the “Guardians of Peace” to attack any movie house that screens “The Interview”, Sony has pulled the film. President Barack Obama, angry that the entertainment giant has sacrificed the treasured American principle of free speech has instigated an investigation in to what amounts to a cyber terrorist attack perpetrated by a hostile foreign nation. The United States has denied North Korea’s request to help in the investigation.
"If the North Korean government wants to help, they can admit their culpability and compensate Sony for the damages this attack caused," said US National Security spokesman Mark Stroh.
However, for Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of the global IT security company Kaspersky Lab, the “mega high profile” attack is worrying not because of the hacking itself, but because of the terror threats that accompanied it.
“The most worrying aspect for me is that this hacker group is threatening to stage terror attacks”, Kaspersky writes on his Facebook page.
“I don’t know if there really is a link between this group and terrorists, but the threat may show that politically-motivated hackers are embracing terrorists’ methods.”
Kaspersky has long warned of the unpreparedness of many western governments for state sponsored cyber terrorism that could cripple the transport and communication systems of entire countries.
“Of course, such an attack on the entertainment industry is very damaging and costly – but it’s probably not as dangerous as an attack on critical infrastructure,” he writes.
“A merger between groups of hacktivists and traditional terrorist organisations has been a fear of mine for years. And now, hacking is just one small step away from real-world terrorism. What’s it going to be next time?” he writes.
Vowing to respond to the Sony cyber attack “proportionately” at a time of Washington’s choosing, the US President appears to believe the episode has serious implications for his nations security, though he says he does not consider it “an act of war”.
North Korea has turned threatening the United States in to an art form. However, whilst its latest threat could be the plot for Hollywood’s next blockbuster, for internet experts like Eugene Kaspersky the attack should have sent a strong message that there’ll be more attacks of this size and scale of damage.
“... it’s a very strong signal that even the most advanced and ‘well-protected’ hi-tech companies are not immune to hacker attacks, so we have to prepare ourselves for inevitable costly attacks in the future. Sadly, it’s not easy to say which industry or company will be the next target.”
Given North Korea’s internet has now faded to black in a nationwide network failure, there’s little chance that if Sony releases The Interview online, it’ll have an audience where it apparently most offends.
Monica Attard is a Sydney based freelance journalist and former ABC foreign correspondent and senior broadcaster.
