Sony Pictures Hack a Whole Different Kettle of Fish

Millions of confidential records, credentials and material thought to be secure have been pilfered this year by hackers or exposed in data breaches, with some incidents potentially more damaging than others.

At the corporate level, there’s been the Target intrusion followed by similar break-ins at Adobe (ADB), Apple (AAPL), EBay, Home Depot and JP Morgan. Add in a number of government agency hacks, highlighted perhaps by the Homeland Security intrusion, and it makes for quite an unflattering picture of the overall security landscape.

But the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) break-in, not only for its rumored North Korean state sponsored origins but also for the volume of leaked information embarrassing to company executives and the entire entertainment industry, and for the sheer brazen and ongoing nose-thumbing of the alleged perpetrators, is a whole different kettle of fish.

To recap, Sony has been under attack now for about three weeks, or ever since the entertainment giant disclosed that a cyber intrusion had brought its corporate network to its knees. But that hasn’t been the end of it, with unreleased Sony movies distributed on the Web and a flood of emails embarrassing to company executives but titillating to the public uncovering some of the seamier, gossipy sides of the industry.

Now, there’s more of the same. The Guardians of Peace, the group taking ownership of the Sony hack, is offering not to release some emails if the employees simply ask the cyber intruders not to do so, Re/code reported.

“Message to SPE Staffers,” the hackers wrote on Pastebin and Friendpaste, Re/code said. “We have a plan to release emails and privacy of the Sony Pictures employees. If you don’t want your privacy to be released, tell us your name and business title to take off your data.”

The post also cautioned about a new, impending email disclosure of Sony employees the alleged attackers are set to release. In addition, the supposed hackers have provided links to other file-sharing sites containing the eighth email release, an archive apparently belonging to Steve O’Dell, Sony Pictures Releasing International president.

The hackers said the new release will house “larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting,” Re/code reported.

According to reports, the Guardians of Peace have demanded that Sony not release what the apparent hackers are calling the “movie of terror,” thought to be a reference to an upcoming comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco called “The Interview,” in which a TV interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un morphs into a CIA-sponsored assassination attempt.

Sony believes that a possible connection exists between the Sony cyber break-in and the North Korean government, although officials have denied the rumor even while praising the hack as a “righteous deed.”

The Sony hack attack is particularly interesting in the wake of a new IBM (IBM) security study in which some 80 percent of security executives surveyed said that outside threats to their organizations are increasing while another 60 percent believe that in many cases the cyber crooks are better equipped than the businesses they’re attacking are to defend themselves.