GOP hackers leak contact details of Hollywood celebrities, threaten war if ‘The Interview’ is released
Sony Corporation’s worst hack nightmare isn’t over yet. The hacker group behind the attack, which calls itself “Guardians of Peace”, published another mass of private dataincluding contact details of several Hollywood stars including Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Tom Hanks as well as a number of corporate emails. The hackers have also threatened the company with further action if it releases the movie The Interview.
First reported by ArsTechnica, the hackers also dismissed allegations that it was behind the threats which Sony employees received over the weekend. “We know nothing about the threatening e-mail received by Sony staffers, but you should wisely judge by yourself why such things are happening and who is responsible for it,” the message read.
As reported by The Telegraph, the leaked personal data also includes tranche of information like the aliases many of these celebrities including Daniel Craig, Natalie Portman, Sarah Michelle Gellar use when traveling incognito. The hackers who claim to be “working all over the world”, threatened the company and possibly the entire United States with “break[ing] the regional peace and caus[ing] the war” if it releases the “movie of terrorism”.
The movie in question is Seth Rogen and James Franco starrer comedy title The Interview. It is widely believed that the hackers behind the attack have connections with North Korean regime. The plot of the movie The Interview, which is scheduled to release worldwide this Christmas, revolves around two celebrity journalists played by Seth Rogen and James Franco who score a rare interview with North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-Un. In the movie, Rogen and Franco are plotted by CIA to poison Jong-Un.
A spokesperson for North Korea’s National Defense Commission reportedly said that The Interview movie was “a film abetting a terrorist act while hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK by taking advantage of the hostile policy of the US administration towards the DPRK.”
Another North Korean government spokesperson, however denied involvement in the attack on Sony over the weekend, “We do not know where in America the Sony Pictures is situated and for what wrongdoings it became the target of the attack nor we feel the need to know about it,” the statement reads. Not that they felt bad about the attack, “the hacking into the Sony Pictures might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK in response to its appeal.” the statement further read.
Earlier this month, the GOP hackers leaked the screener copies of five movies by Sony Pictures. The list of movies included Brad Pit-starrer Fury, which was released last month, and four other Sony movies namely Annie, Mr. Turner, Still Alice, and To Write Love on Her Arms that are yet to hit the big screen.
GOP’s latest message also includes links to Outlook mailboxes of Sony executives. The hackers also recently leaked passwords of Sony’s network, and salary information of several thousand executives, as well as security numbers of several celebrities.
Sony has sought help from security firm FireEye Inc’s Mandiant to combat any further hacks. The Japanese media conglomerate also has the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) working on the matter, according to a report.
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