The group GUARDIANS OF PEACE, or GOP, has posted yet another message.. this time on GITHUB. They are calling on SONY to stop ‘immediately showing the movie which can break regional peace and cause the war.” GOP is obviously referring to the Kim Jong Un North Korea spy spook THE INTERVIEW with Seth Rogan and James Franco.. that movie is set to come out on Christmas..
This is the latest twist in an already bizarre story .. Only days ago, this same group was blamed for the massive cyber attack that crippled computers at the company. Even more, a large data dump was made including Hollywood stars and starlets’ social security numbers, contracts, and lots of other private data going back to at least the year 2000. At the time, SONY made mention of the chance that the GOP hacked into their system simply because of the film THE INTERVIEW, and that the group hack state backing from North Korea to do it.. various media reports in subsequent days inferred that the FBI was investigating the claims.
Since that time, a groundswell of confusion has enveloped the entire story, with some wondering aloud of the North Korea angle was simply SONY trying to embellish on a possibility and help pop culture embrace THE INTERVIEW even more. Others–including me–wondered if the SONY hack attack would have been an act of war should it be revealed that North Korea was actually behind it.
Now this latest GOP assault is another piece of a large puzzle of confusion in relation to this story.
Ted Johnson, a senior editor for VARIETY, reported this in the latest runs concerning the situation,
The message from GOP said that they “have given our clear demand to the management team of Sony, however they have refused.”
“You, SONY, & FBI, cannot find us.”
The note also included a link connected to the names of Amy Pascal and Stephen Mosko.
A spokeswoman for Sony said they had no comment. An individual close to the studio said that they have received no demands.
The message also claims to “know nothing about the threatening email received by Sony staffers,” an apparent reference to a message received on Friday that authorities also are investigating.
This is the full message as posted on GITHUB by the GOP group:
We have already given our clear demand to the management team of SONY, however, they have refused to accept.
It seems that you think everything will be well, if you find out the attacker, while no reacting to our demand.
We are sending you our warning again.
Do carry out our demand if you want to escape us.
And, Stop immediately showing the movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the War!
You, SONY & FBI, cannot find us.
We are perfect as much.
The destiny of SONY is totally up to the wise reaction & measure of SONY.
The interesting statement within this: The ‘demands’ that SONY refused to accept. The demands referenced are now being made public as well.. According to other sources with copies of information, the hackers from the group sent SONY as strange and jumbled email three days prior to the hacking asking for money. MASHABLE actually found the demand email in the hacked documents which were dumped online by the GOP.
With all of this feeding frenzy of intrigue, a few other points are noteworthy, including this: SONY’s PLAYSTATION went offline yesterday. It was hacked.. Customers who were frantically attempting to play a game on their console were told “Page Not Found! it’s not you. It’s the Internet’s Fault.” The GOP didn’t do this one, however. A group called Lizard Squad is claiming responsibility for the Playstation downing–the same hacker group hit XBox last week.
In the CNN report, Dave Aitel from IMMUNITY Inc, said it was ‘very clear’ that a nation state has done the hack, and mentioned how a customer of such a company needs to take into account that you could be a pawn in the global war of a nation vs a private company..
The situation at SONY isn’t good.. they are in full blown damage control and, despite their role as a victim in this entire affair, could see ramifications far beyond the box office. Namely with investors are big money men who could doubt SONY as a safe and reliable entity to trust. And even more, a careful examination of the hacked information clearly puts SONY’S entire business model and corporate structure out in the open like the King having no pants.. Everything they have done for years is out there.. their actors’ information is out there.. the trust factor is huge. In Hollywood, the trust in SONY seems to have be spiraling down..
As this story develops over time, a full unveiling of the truth will occur. It could be slow.
After all, this is war: SONY is trying to bash North Korea and blame them for a massive cyber attack–and don’t think for a second executives don’t think that will help the credibility of THE INTERVIEW when it is released this month.. but on the flip side, some very important questions are floating to the surface of the cesspool of the data dump, including this: Did SONY’S network security have flaws leading to this attack? Did SONY save all of its information only in one place, allowing for this cyber hit to be easier? What about firewalls? Is anyone looking into current or former employees within the company to see if this attack was easier? Disgruntled techies? And finally.. Is anyone coming to grips with the possibility that a rogue nation state just declared war over a movie?
That last question would be the most epic of all to answer..
