North Korea broke Sony Pictures and Hollywood, revenge for the murder of Kim Jong-un

[DARPA]

The company Sony Pictures Entertainment (for simplicity let's say Sony, but keeping in mind that this studio) discovered on November 24, that someone broke into her system and pumped terabytes of information. It did not happen overnight, and lasted for weeks, but in the studio will not admit it, but simply pauses, saying that there is something that required shutting down the system. Sony employees could not get into their working accounts that became known to the outside world. Comments studios were restrained, she warned that other movie studios should examine its log files, it is possible that the attack was planned and went to many producers of film production.

A little later pops up information about the cause of hacking Sony was the film "Interview", which did not like Kim Jong Ynu - suffice it to mention that in Kvanmen on all pages where he meets his name, it is automatically highlighted, font increases.
The film "Interview" was supposed to be an ordinary comedy, which under the guise of journalists in North Korea sent a killer, hunting for the head of state. Another rubbish, which in the year appears on the screen than a dozen pieces.

Even during the making of the film, in the summer on the state website of North Korea (and yes there are no private sites) discussed that this picture is detrimental to the country and shows the inner life of Americans, as well as how they spread democracy around the world. That performance led to a lot of ridicule in Hollywood, the actor who plays one of the killers, even spoke tweeted that he hoped to view pictures of Kim Jong Ynom.

Very quickly jokes on North Korean leader pall, and all moved on to other stories, but the PR for the film turned out good.

But in North Korea pledged to punish the filmmakers, sparking a wave of very unfunny parody tweets and discussions of how this country will be able to do it. The punishment came on Nov. 24, when many employees Sony saw on their screens a message from a certain group of "Keepers of the world", which stated that if their demands are not met, then the secrets of Sony will be available worldwide. The company reacted to this threat too seriously, believing that they can resolve the problem. But then events developed an unusual scenario.

November 29 "Keepers of the World" downloaded torrents five paintings by Sony, one of which is already in theaters, and the rest had to go out in the near future, one picture - in March 2015. It is difficult to calculate the damage that has brought this action only, attempts to remove copies from the Internet were unsuccessful. These "hot" movies have become bestsellers in a matter of hours. Do not call the picture, so as not to provoke you to view far from the final copies of most filmov.29 leaked in November, on Saturday, Sony studio hires a company FireEye Inc, which specializes in information security. In this paper, Reuters claimed that the company plans to return to its own information system operational by Monday. From the first days of labor problems FBI recommendations to hire a company apparently also made by employees of the US authorities, even though it's just my guess. But for the first time information about what hacking may be associated with the film "Interview", does not sound from Sony, but from the FBI. And it sounds when the system does not work, they do not have any tools to restore it or understand the nature of the attack. The damage can not be assessed as in Sony, and the FBI, but everyone knows that is a serious matter.

In fact, hackers paralyzed the studio for a week, it does not work nearly all the talks were on the phones got all existing work, which in itself meant multimillion-dollar losses. But that was only the beginning of a nightmare Sony.

On weekends, when the company hired by the information security system restored Sony, journalists received the first letter of "keepers of the peace", in which they admitted that they had posted five movies on torrents. On Monday, December 1, the second letter came, which offers files that contain some inside information Sony, but they were encrypted, and many thought it was a bad joke.

But it was not a joke, and Monday night began to appear first article in which the daylight pulled deepest secrets studio. So, there was a material in which discussed the salary of top managers studio. Meanwhile, the FBI continues to assert that the protection of citizens and companies from such attacks - their first priority. The investigation continued.

Group "Keepers of the world" did not look beginners, they are not trying to give all the information at once, very thinly felt like work and live media representatives gave Sony and the FBI to speak. December 4 very cute tricks discussed in detail the budget picture "Interview" in the 210-page document savvy journalists found the item, according to which the filmmakers paid 9500 dollars themselves for what they brought themselves to the set behind the wheel of their cars. Yes, they drove their own cars, the horror! But the problem was a leak of social security numbers of all current employees of Sony, and those who worked for the company previously. Total flowed 47,000 rooms. And apart from this - many gigabytes of data, in which journalists still understood. In the evening, December 4 Sony holds an annual party for employees, on which its top executives said a lot of words about the leak of information and assurances that are doing their best. As I see it, they simply did not stand a chance - by the time they did not know exactly what has flowed from the company and what will be the damage. I am sure that they dreamed that this nightmare is over and they can move on.

Former employees of Sony does not mince words and unrelated non-disclosure agreement, openly discussed the ridiculous level of information security, telling stories, which caused laughter and tears.

Hackers are laid out in the documents public access big portions, each new piece of brings new revelations. But on December 6, they started sending letters to employees Sony, which moved to the threats regarding their families, they were intimidating people. President of Sony was forced to write a letter to all employees of the following:

"We understand that some of our employees recently received an email containing malicious and threatening contents from an unknown sender. We immediately notified the FBI of the email and they have teams working on this issue.

First and foremost, if you happen to receive a suspicious email, DO NOT respond to these emails or click on any links. Not only are these criminals using scare tactics, they may also be attempting to further infect the SPE IT network.

Once again, we can not overemphasize our appreciation to all of you for your commitment and resolve. Together we will move past this incident and continue the extraordinary work you do every day "

Sorry, but it has very few people believed, as they did not believe in what the FBI can solve this problem. By 8 December, it became known that the top managers of Studio 21 got its official mailboxes warning that their system is compromised, they offered to pay off the problems. But they ignored this warning, blackmail, waved him away. I think that by the time the attackers have already had on hand all they wanted, and these letters were a warning shot.

The scandal is gaining momentum, and already on December 10, speaking before the US Senate, the FBI admitted that a similar burglary may be subject to 90 per cent of companies, including government agencies in the US. At this point, the idea that the main target of the attack was not money, but the removal of the film "Interview" rolled, became dominant. In this "believe" everything for the FBI it was convenient screen, as the Bureau could not admit that is not opposed to the forces of a state, and private individuals. In the group of "Keepers of the world", apparently picked up the idea, as it has been successful, and began to demand the termination of the launch of this film. North Korea's position, which does not comment on the event, and only the mouth of the Press Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs insists that the country is living in a hostile environment and we have to wait and see what will come out in the end, adds to the confusion. I think that North Korea and its leader, to some extent it was even nice to be a sort of global Dr. Evil. And North Korea is not actively denied any involvement in the incident.

Inside the Sony confusion reigned, sources claimed that the film will not show in Asia, but its showing in the United States seemed to be a foregone conclusion, no one was going to cancel the rental. In the meantime arrived, the fifth batch of documents, which quickly found the racist remarks top manager studio, all kinds of dirt in the description of the actors and producers like. Hollywood rocked a mini-scandals, and top managers of the studio again apologized already for their actions in the past that suddenly became available around the world. But a time bomb in these letters were not so much the salary of employees as the company's plans. That there is only a description of the "Goliath", which united against Google 6 studios and they were going to fight Google piratstvom.Ofitsialnaya reaction was not long in coming. The company can go to court and win it.

All these documentary evidence can be used by various companies, groups of activists to sue Sony. However, their own employees have appealed to the court, as they found that the company failed to provide adequate protection of their personal data. The second lawsuit followed the first, it will be employees of the company to recover from the company penalties for insufficient action to protect them.

But the bombshell came when "Keepers of the world," said that if Christmas movie "Interview" will be shown in US theaters, it will be an event comparable to September 11th. Press picked up the words, and multiply them. Police responded promptly, stating that it was ready to strengthen security measures. But cinema chains refused to rent the movie for them the risks were too great. The Sony lacked the courage to even start the movie for online display, as in the hands of hackers apparently remained trumps. But even rejection of the demonstration of the film does not stop the leak, in the next, already the ninth in a row set of documents contains the entire mailbox president of the company since 2008! All correspondence, including deleted messages, I am sure that we will see a lot of revelations.

The Sony tried to stop reprinting information and intimidate the media. The company's lawyers said that everyone who uses the stolen information may face harassment from Sony. But in the media with pleasure and disseminated by the story, continuing to delve into the dirty linen of the company. Sony shares in the wake of reports of an increasing number of problems beginning fever. In the press in mid-December has the impression that there is a massacre of the innocents, and Sony can not do anything to stop. And it was like the truth.
For the parent company, a large Sony, all the news is very bad. She is in the process of restructuring, does not pay for the first 50 years of dividends, as well as plans to show in March, a loss of $ 2.15 billion. And then here is a "gift." So much so, that US President Barack Obama, in his annual address to the nation dedicated to the abolition of the film "Interview" a few minutes, calling it an act of censorship, which is contrary to American values. And mentioned that if consulted with him, he would film still showed. De facto President of the United States said that his country and the company based on its territory, lost the first battle in the cyber war. FBI efforts against this background look very funny.

The Sony did not hesitate to indicate to the President that the company had no chance to show the film in any way. And it was a hint at how US government agencies are able to carry out their work, in particular the FBI. Skirmish did not continue, but all were in favor.

But the problems did not end Sony. Thus, the same group of hackers demanded after the abolition of the screening to remove all mention of it in the network (representing work? It Impossible). To do so, as if the film did not exist. If this does not happen, then they will continue to publish internal company data. This is not just beating it the complete destruction of Sony - methodical and systematic. And done professionally. The United States has put in charge of it - North Korea. Last first reacted sharply, namely saying that requires a joint commission to investigate the matter together. But nobody is willing to create such a commission, as the existing version suits everyone. Let's try to understand why.

US lost cyberwar - who is the enemy and why North Korea is guilty
History studio Sony's scope is comparable to Pearl Harbor, although such importance to this event yet no one gives. According to the United States was dealt a blow from which country and one of the largest companies were unable to defend themselves. Moreover, by his own admission the FBI, these attacks can be successful against other companies in the country. How is this possible and what can cause such actions in the near future? After all, difficult to assume that hacking Sony will be the only story of this kind, it is only the first step.

To begin with, that the suspect North Korea is endless, but this version does not hold water. In the country at the moment simply does not have enough skilled programmers, so they could hack anything. My deep belief is that in order to be able to anything, it is necessary to constantly train and improve. Can you remember the theory Gladwell about 10,000 hours, which is in its simplicity liking to many people in the world. In North Korea, there is no free environment in which could grow a world-class hackers even attempt to create such a group is contrary to the ideology of the state. The country has built a corral in which they live all the people, including government officials. And to create their own group, endowed with full access to the information, then lay under its own system time bomb. Control of information - is the holy of holies for all the rulers of North Korea. And then the FBI begins to crumble. The country is also no technical means to download an amount of data from a film studio Sony, plus the traffic that would go against this country, clearly stands out from the usual, it would have paid attention.

Some traces indicate that the hacking came from several countries, including China. That is, by assigning North Korea guilty, the FBI actually recognized that it is the customer. But this does sewn with white thread, prove this fact in our world is almost impossible. The quality of intelligence, which operate in the United States, has long leaves much to be desired, US intelligence has no real operational data from developed countries, not to mention such a closed country like North Korea. Failures of the past can recall the annexation of the Crimea, which have missed all US intelligence agencies (three directly responsible for this information!), Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which has never been found - the list is endless. On the old failures can be read in the book that I have somehow encouraged a "Spillikins", "The True Story of the CIA," there have collected a hundred, some associated with the history of the USSR and how the US intelligence lied to the Senate, and the President United States, and the last lied to his people. These are the facts.

In the US, the political situation is such that the scandal with Sony is not absolutely necessary to anybody. Policy of the country lies in the fact that there are militants of the Islamic state, which represent a worldwide problem, the second place is Russia, which is necessary to weaken and this is making significant efforts. Against this background, Barack Obama, in his annual speech said that the United States continues to set the standards in the world and lead the world in the right direction. Recognize that the country that created the modern communications is vulnerable to attack by a new generation, and suffered its first crushing defeat, impossible. However, such a lesion can be considered as Wikileaks, and Edward Snowden, but it's always been a leak from the inside. History hacking Sony - this is an example already relatively brute force, when the studio broke out.

Who would make such a hack? A relatively small group of qualified engineers who know both software and hardware systems. Protection for Sony typical for corporate America, it is not quite frankly weak or absent. How gutted the company suggests that it was done deliberately and for a long time. Stolen more than one document, it can be assumed that the attackers gained access to everything. Now imagine that the same people gutted US Department of Defense a while ago. Will they inform the world about it? I am sure that is not. To do this, there are many reasons, but one of the key lies in the fact that it will push the United States to begin a crusade to seek the true source of the threat, enhance the security of all information resources. Forwards this just are not interested. They wanted to show their capabilities, test yourself in a real world, but do not change the picture of the world and not to push all the mass hysteria. And it was quite successful.
Edward Snowden revelations showed that the US had about 60,000 cyber attacks on information networks around the world, it is absolutely normal, and is considered the norm for obtaining secret information. At the same time the United States has repeatedly accused China that it breaks the different networks in the United States. Search for information about how many people in China are engaged in this part of the state, I could not. But knowing the scope of such Chinese initiatives, we can assume that we are not talking about thousands and tens of thousands of those who are preparing for cyberwar. And success in this plane China has. In Russia, by comparison, much less such people, their total amount can be estimated in several thousand people. These are the people working for the state in various departments, including the army.

Many policy initiatives affecting telecommunications, emerged not from scratch. To cite one example - in the US are constantly being developed contingency plans global conflicts, the probability of which is considered to be low, that does not negate the need to develop policies and procedures for such a case. About five years ago for the first time introduced the concept of information isolation in which mobile operators should disable access to the outside world, that is, the country will become isolated. No calls from the outside, as well as back. No communication in social networks and so on. This task is quite simple to implement within the United States, most of the servers located in the country, and for many social networking connectivity is not compromised.

Now imagine that, for example, Germany will close its network in the event of a conflict, such a procedure already exists. There will be a collapse in the communications of ordinary people at the local level in the country. The same familiar Facebook will not work, as most will not be authorized. And the fact that many countries, and Russia - is no exception, are beginning to demand infrastructure services on their territory, taking a variety of laws, is the answer to their own actions that are not advertised. This is an attempt to save their own performance networks in the case of extreme measures, disabling all external world is perceived as a last resort. This is not nuclear war or something like that, that's what happened to Sony, when the computer infrastructure of the company has not worked for over a week. Such coordinated attacks against individual states can bring much more harm to bear not only economic losses, but lead to the death of people due to the failure of services and mechanisms. And carry the most information-harm developed countries. Think of it as an asymmetric response on the part of those who do not have enough infrastructure. As an example of how this important area, I note that China's strategic priority is to support companies Huawei and ZTE in advancing their infrastructure equipment in the global market. Who owns the infrastructure and understand its weaknesses, the future of benefits. In China, it is fully aware of.

In some way the power of the United States and some other countries - the development of telecom, but it is also a weak point. A huge number of vulnerable points, the lack of total control over the equipment, a relatively small number of people involved in this field. Stories like that occurred with Sony, will be repeated several times, and indeed this story is far from over. Think of it as a pilot project in which gutted the company to test the limits of the possible. Societal response to blackmail and threats. It's kind of student's work, in which many more dimensions than it seems at first glance. Please note that the attackers professionally spread information bits, do not tend to cause maximum damage at the same time, and stretch the process, draw the other side of the debate, and then to strike adjusted next blow. Elements of psychological warfare, intimidation of families of employees, partners, and so on. It's a real experience which will allow to calculate the reaction of people, including officials in other situations. It is also an experience that allows us to estimate how quickly the US intelligence services are able to react, how quickly they can find clues left and walk along the trail. No matter who is behind this attack, we still do not know the truth to the nearest hundred years, and maybe never. Unless there is a defector, who tells her. It is important that this is a very professional team, and it has changed our world. The story itself is about how telecommunications will change. When the largest US companies operating on the Internet (Google, Microsoft, and others), appeared before US authorities against many laws that lead to the balkanization of the Internet, that is, individual networks at the level of states, territories, they called for the reduction of their costs. But the story is much broader and more interesting in the future, the Internet transformed, and the only protection against harmful interference becomes critically important separation of infrastructure from the global network. This approach is already used by many countries and organizations, in the future it will only increase. However, the Internet itself will begin to receive different quality infrastructure with different levels of protection. And this will also lead to the isolation of certain territories.

Devices, including our smartphones, tablets and computers, may be a source of threat to any country. Imagine that during the war, you suddenly get a message from the government that you should immediately leave the city, as applied chemical or other weapons. It will not just panic and collapse. Now imagine that the government is not doing a mailing, and did the attacking side. Information security comes to the fore, and many other countries too vulnerable in this area. In the history of telecommunications, there is one example where the hysteria has become unimaginable scale. In 1938, an American radio station CBS radio show came out of "War of the Worlds" by HG Wells. Today, as always in the history of mankind, there are two views of the same event. Some argue that the legend around that statement appeared later, someone takes it at face value. I am sure that reality is somewhere in between.
In that statement decided to give the "War of the Worlds" touch of modernity, the action moved to New Jersey. At the beginning of hours reported that this radio show, but heard about this one. Then came reports of strange flashes on Mars attacks from unknown machines, their bombardment from the battlefield kept breaking ham radio and so took 40 minutes until told that this is just a statement. According to various estimates, the audience for this program is from 2 to 6 million people, someone took it all as a stupid joke, but there were those who took it seriously. The fact that the number of phone calls that night increased 5 times! Of the cities evacuated, and there were traffic jams. In Washington State, a small town in concrete, broken power plant, transmission was interrupted in the most inopportune moment, when the actor said that all mass destruction weapons and is not able to cope with the strikers. Residents of this town were convinced that there was a power failure due to the attack. In this story the media was discussed very widely, and Grover Mills even a monument to the failed attack Martians, is a local landmark, the other in the town or not. Even if we imagine that the newspapers of the time fib and panic was not so great after all this production had an impact on the minds of people. Believe that people during this period have not changed, only changed our means of communication. And now, by sending a message about the immediate evacuation and knocking out communications, can be answered by a serious cause panic and death in a stampede. All this can be achieved by software, no need to do damage bombers. Welcome to the brave new world.

The questions are very important, much remains behind the scenes, but I think it's a seed, you've got something to think about and can continue to search for information about these issues, take a closer look at the events through the prism of this knowledge. It is a pity that "Spillikins" do not allow more to talk about everything, but I'm sure more than once will return to this subject, it is too important to all of us.