Sony Hack Kills Movie Release Scheduled for Christmas
- By Ginger Hill
- Dec 18, 2014
As many news outlets have reported, Korea was responsible for the recent cyberattack on Sony Pictures, and how did Sony respond? Well, they pulled the film “The Interview,” a comedy about journalists who scored an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un but were in actuality hired by the CIA to assassinate Un, scheduled to be released on December 25.
Here’s what we know about the hack:
- The US government is not prepared to issue formal charges against Korea or its leadership;
- FBI Director James Comey said the attack was very “complicated;”
- Sony was hit on November 24;
- A red glowing skeleton appeared on computer screens throughout a Sony subsidiary;
- Name of hackers: Guardians of Peace; and
- Guardians of Peace posted a threatening message to attack theaters that showed “The Interview.”
First of all, I think Sony could have picked a better release date, but that’s just my opinion. And, to continue on down the rabbit hole of “my opinion,” at first I was upset by Sony’s actions, thinking if a huge corporation is going to give in, basically tuck their tails and run, to cyberterrorism peer pressure, then how can the “common folks” battle this type of terrorism? It just didn’t make sense to me because Sony has the resources to fight cyberterrorism and it seemed like this would be the perfect time for them to step up.
I expressed my thoughts to some of my colleagues, and while my opinion about the proposed release date isn’t wavering, I do see Sony’s response in a different way. You see, before the shooting at the theater during the Bat Man movie, a theater shooting wasn’t a reality. That shooting made it a reality…made it a possibility, proving that it could happen. Therefore, maybe Sony is scared of this type of attack after the threatening message posted by the Guardians of Peace. Could it be that Sony was actually very forth-thinking in pulling “The Interview” from theaters and the public eye?
About the Author
Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.