The hackers posted five Sony movies (four unreleased) to file-sharing networks. Over the course of several weeks, the hackers posted several waves of files stolen from Sony's computers. Staffers were reportedly forced to work on whiteboards to do their jobs. Sony's network was down for days as administrators struggled to repair the damage. No one has yet been able to ascertain exactly why they called themselves that. The hackers called themselves the Guardians of Peace. The attackers had taken terabytes of private data, deleted the original copies from Sony computers, and left messages threatening to release the information if Sony didn't comply with the attackers' demands.Īccording to a former Sony employee who posted to Reddit, this is the message Sony employees saw on their screens that Monday morning: When Sony Pictures employees got into the office on Monday, November 24, 2014, they discovered that their corporate network had been hacked. In the spring of 2015, all of the hacked emails were released to the internet at large by WikiLeaks.
The attack could have far-reaching consequences not only for the movie industry but also for American foreign policy and the future of warfare. Security experts have criticized the weak evidence the FBI has released so far, but the National Security Agency reported it has stronger evidence that it hasn't released for security reasons. The US government says it has strong evidence that North Korea was responsible for the attack, though the North Korean regime has denied it.
Then the studio reversed itself, releasing the movie in select theaters and online. Critics, including President Obama, warned that capitulating in the face of terrorist threats would set a bad precedent. Initially, Sony reacted by shelving the movie. Then the hackers, using one of their near-daily communiqués via the website Pastebin, threatened to commit acts of terrorism against movie theaters, demanding that Sony cancel the planned release of The Interview, a comedy about two Americans who assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They leaked the information to journalists, who wrote about embarrassing things Sony employees had said to each other. The hackers, who are widely believed to be working in at least some capacity with North Korea, stole huge amounts of information off of Sony's network. In late November 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace. In late November, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace.