For something calling itself the Guardians of Peace (GOP), the anonymous hacker or hackers have crossed the line into threats of violence. After several cinema chains buckled under the threat of “another 911” if they showed The Interview, Sony Pictures postponed the scheduled Dec. 25. The movie may be shelved altogether.
The rather unfunny-looking film, starring James Franco and Seth Rogan, concerns a pair of reporters commissioned by the CIA to assassinate the world’s wackiest dictator, North Korea’s fearless leader, Kim Jong-un. Aside from Sony shareholders, The Interview’s disappearance would be no great loss to anyone except for one thing: it allows cyber terrorists to determine the content of our culture.
GOP began by pulling a Wikileak on Sony, accessing the conglomerate’s email and personnel files and dumping the contents (including employee social security numbers) online with more postings promised. Unlike Julian Assange, GOP’s hacking revealed nothing of compelling public interest—Sony isn’t trying to undermine Russia’s economy, play Monopoly with the world banking system or assassinate Raoul Castro—but serves as yet another reminder of the vulnerability of digital communications and data storage. Techno utopians remain in denial, but there are problems with dependence on systems that offer no real hope of privacy or security. Next, a cyber terrorist may hack your bank account—or bring down the power grid in your city.
Meanwhile, before the next cyber assault, thoughts turn to who might be interested in preventing The Interview’s release. As in many literary and cinematic mysteries, there is an obvious suspect—but perhaps too obvious. Kim Jong-un long ago huffed and sputtered about repercussions if the film was released. Did he decide to punish Sony by dumping its documents online before stating his real objective, thwarting The Interview?
The BBC points out the GOP did not initially include The Interview in its pronouncements, stating, “the attackers only latched onto The Interview connection after the media suggested that North Korea might be linked to the attack.” The BBC quotes online security experts who doubt that North Korea has the sophistication to pull off the Sony job and that, although overlooked by the media, “the hackers emailed five top Sony Pictures executives on November 21, days before they began leaking the files, and demanded money.” The North Korean Connection might be a ruse by clever extortionists trying to get the U.S. government off their trail.
Although Sony’s move unlocks more screens for the Dec. 25 opening of Universal’s Unbroken and Disney’s Into the Woods, rival studios are not suspected. In the future, criminals may hold movie releases for ransom and political-religious fanatics may try punishing the industry for producing work they regard as heresy. The world keeps getting stranger.
