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PC World is reporting that families of Sony employees are now being threatened, or at least being subjected to implied threats.
Hackers said to threaten Sony employees
The hack against Sony Pictures appeared to enter new territory on Friday when employees reportedly received messages threatening them and their families.
The message, reported by Variety, warned that “not only you but your family will be in danger.”
Sony’s computer system was attacked in late November and gigabytes of data, including unreleased movies, were stolen and leaked online. Embarrassing hacks have hit other companies in recent years, but threatening employees is highly unusual and will put extra pressure on law enforcement to find those responsible.
The message purports to be from the Guardians of Peace, the group that has claimed responsibility for the Sony hack. It’s written in patchy English and opens with further threats against Sony.
“Removing Sony Pictures on earth is a very tiny work for our group which is a worldwide organization. And what we have done so far is only a small part of our further plan,” the message reads in part, according to Variety, which says it obtained a copy.
It then turns to Sony employees.
“Many things beyond imagination will happen at many places of the world. ... Please sign your name to object the false [sic] of the company at the email address below if you dont want to suffer damage. If you dont, not only you but your family will be in danger,” the message reads.
This incident is precisely why I am so worked up about trustworthy computing and leery of having others aggregating personal information on me. Its not that I am trying to hide anything I am doing, but leaving all my personal information laying around is just an invite for someone to come in and make a mess in my life.
(Score: 1) by typhoon on Monday December 08 2014, @12:08AM
So performing an evil act in response to an evil act is OK? I strongly disagree and think the situation requires deeper and more thoughtful analysis, particularly from the wider community who shouldn't be encouraging this type of reaction as it may well be them someday being targeted. Selfish survival instinct should put yourself in their shoes.
- Sony exists to make money, and almost everyone is part of the same economic system, so are you too enabling Sony through your participation. If it was ok to target these people, then target yourself first. See how silly that is?
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Monday December 08 2014, @02:18AM
So performing an evil act in response to an evil act is OK?
nobody said that. what i said was that i have no sympathy for them.
Sony exists to make money, and almost everyone is part of the same economic system, so are you too enabling Sony through your participation.
which is why i dont buy things from Sony or other criminal corporations.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday December 09 2014, @03:26PM
Let's be a bit realistic though...I suspect far fewer people would be voicing support for this if we actually expected they might carry out these threats. But they can't even speak English, so how likely is it that they're ready to carry out a massive terrorist attack on US soil?
Seems all but certain that it's North Korea who's behind this. Are they really going to send a bunch of agents over here and commit acts of war over a freakin' movie? Highly doubtful.
So in reality what's the worst that will happen? Sony might start having some recruitment trouble or have to spend some minuscule portion of their obscene profits to beef up their security theater. People are just happy that it makes Sony look bad and brings some more attention to their past evils. And gives us an excuse to remind people of those again. And if that's the end result, the world will be a marginally better place for it.
Of course, the REAL danger here is not to Sony or its employees -- the real danger is the potential reaction of an overzealous security state. Take some joy in it while you can; might not last very long...