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An Offer to Sony from 2600

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Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#191

Post by pyre »

Fogest wrote: post #137
yourad_io wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> e-graffiti artists That's brilliant. (I assume this refers to defacement s/kiddies)

I don't think script kiddies could do this size of a hack, especially considering the amount of data involved and stay under the radar this long. If this is what a script kiddie is capable of... then what is a real hacker capable of?

No one was saying that this was done by script kiddies, but IIRC there were monitors on Sony's network for suspicious activity, and they did flag some of the activity, but the relevant people were told to ignore it by Sony's 'security' team. (I imagine this means that they get lots of false-positives and were just too used to ignore the alerts?)

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#192

Post by s_q_b »

berdario wrote: post #63
organsnyder wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd interpret that exactly to the opposite: They're not sure if they're going to release it, but they want to put on a brave face and say that they will. In reality, they're probably all scared shitless. If all of their employees' personal info has been compromised as reported, I can understand that they'd be worried about the possibility of someone getting hurt. Even a minor, harmless event could lead to bad press.…

> Of course, no one believes that NK actually has the ability to inflict physical harm outside of their own country I wish. They're definitely capable of inflicting physical harm outside of NK. Just the first link that comes to my mind that has already been shared here: http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201306/kim-jong-i... It's not so unusual for a Korean to be in Japan, and NK can surely provide falsified…

North Korean and South Korean dialects are very different, but you are correct in that they are adept at sneaking agents into Japan. But they threatened "9/11 style" attacks on movie theaters, of which they are certainly not capable, especially if the movie goes straight to VOD.

I think there's an argument going on between Sony Pictures and Sony Japan over the release, and that right now everyone is sitting on their hands waiting to see how the U.S. government responds. But since there's already screener copies out there, I would put money on the movie seeing the light of day.

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#193

Post by s_q_b »

zaroth wrote: post #185
sokoloff wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FBI told Sony they didn't know if the theaters were safe. Seriously, WTF are we paying them for if they can't tell us, with absolute certainty, that our theaters are safe from terrorist attacks on Christmas. Are you kidding me? You expect that if the FBI can't say with absolute certainty that all 40K screens in the US are absolutely safe from terrorist attack on Christmas that they've somehow failed us? They'd ha…

You're right. The bit about 'absolute certainty' was hyperbolic on my part. How about this though; You think it's too much to ask for the FBI to be able to stand up and say that this particular threat of violence, which feels like little more than chest-pounding script kiddies, is not credible ? My initial reaction was the physical threat was little more than a joke. The FBI and Homeland Security do need to be able t…

DHS has stated that they do not believe these to be "credible threats."

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#194

Post by Fogest »

pyre wrote: post #191
Fogest wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think script kiddies could do this size of a hack, especially considering the amount of data involved and stay under the radar this long. If this is what a script kiddie is capable of... then what is a real hacker capable of?

No one was saying that this was done by script kiddies, but IIRC there were monitors on Sony's network for suspicious activity, and they did flag some of the activity, but the relevant people were told to ignore it by Sony's 'security' team. (I imagine this means that they get lots of false-positives and were just too used to ignore the alerts?)

It seems like Sony did a lot of stuff wrong in the end but instead of owning up to the mistakes are going to claim that it was a terrorist attack on their syste .

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#195

Post by tripzilch »

jarcane wrote: post #16
zaroth wrote: post #4

Sony CEO Michael Lynton says Sony still wants The Interview to be seen and is considering their options. Those include DVD and Blu-ray home video, YouTube, VOD, and other digital platforms but “there has not been one major VOD distributor, one major e-commerce site that has stepped forward and said they are willing to distribute this movie for us.” [1] Hackers to Sony: We'll stand down if you never release the movie.…

Sony owns several digital release platforms. If they want this movie out, they could make it happen tomorrow. This is just PR speak. They might cave and release anyway, but Lynton's statement is deliberately weak and duplicitous, once again attempting to deflect all blame from themselves rather than admit to any mistake on their part.

I'm assuming there's all sorts of dirt in that stolen data. Whoever has it, has Sony by the balls.

I'm not blaming Sony for bad security, because as was stated elsewhere, spear-fishing of IT-admins is incredibly hard to protect against. However, depending on how bad the dirt is (and every big corporation probably has a bunch of rather smelly skeletons in the closet), some of that blame may lie with Sony. But if that is so, getting hacked just means they didn't get away with whatever incriminating stuff is in that data.

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#196

Post by hellgas00 »

maroonblazer wrote: post #156
hellgas00 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the case where there is without a doubt a definitive 'ticking time bomb'. Torture is usually used to illicit confessions, and in the case of the CIA they used it as a method to garner further information without knowing if the subject had more information to give. Say the guy in the article was just a suspect and didn't actually know where the person was, is it prudent to torture him because he might know som…

Right, I wasn't arguing that torture was necessarily called for in situations where we don't know if someone has the desired information. I was more making the point that the idea that "torture never works" isn't borne out by the facts. One could imagine a situation where, like this one, we DO know the person has the information. Add to that the 'ticking time-bomb' context and it's difficult to argue against torture.…

I see what you are saying, but I would have to guess that it's so very rare that the authorities know for sure that a suspect has information to give, that it is almost irrelevant to debate the scenario.

Not to mention, the use of the ticking-time bomb scenarios were used to justify use of torture by the CIA. Which entity determines if a suspect has usable information, to stave off 'improper' use of torture? If you can't trust the CIA to make a definitive call in that regards, why even consider torture as an option in any form?

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#197

Post by vpalanc1 »

DonHopkins wrote: post #169
happyscrappy wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Euroweenies can be as outraged as they like and it won't matter because they never do anything. Europe will be a vassal state for the forseeable future.

Although you've answered twice, you're still avoiding the question. He asked you if you prefer war over script kiddies, and said he's disgusted that you seem to. I agree. Do you or don't you prefer actual war (including torture, rape, cluster bombs, starvation, etc) over "cyber warfare" (including script kiddies, copyright violation, web site graffiti and defacement, leaked email and photos, cyber bullying, doxing, i…

I wouldn't put doxing in the same category as "web site graffiti and defacement". It has the potential to be psychologically every bit as damaging as rape...

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#198

Post by DonHopkins »

vpalanc1 wrote: post #197
DonHopkins wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although you've answered twice, you're still avoiding the question. He asked you if you prefer war over script kiddies, and said he's disgusted that you seem to. I agree. Do you or don't you prefer actual war (including torture, rape, cluster bombs, starvation, etc) over "cyber warfare" (including script kiddies, copyright violation, web site graffiti and defacement, leaked email and photos, cyber bullying, doxing, i…

I wouldn't put doxing in the same category as "web site graffiti and defacement". It has the potential to be psychologically every bit as damaging as rape...

I'm sure Alfreda Bikowsky was psychologically damaged by being doxed as the key apologist and senior officer at the center of the CIA's torture scandals. But not as badly as the people who were physically damaged and killed by the torture she ordered and flew to witness because "She thought it would be cool to be in the room".

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/12/19/senior-cia-off...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfreda_Frances_Bikowsky

So how is what Alfreda Bikowsky did and was doxed for not as bad as anything script kiddies have ever done?

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#199

Post by encoderer »

a3n wrote: post #188
encoderer wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony is not a US Business...

> Sony is not a US Business... Yep, it sure is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Entertainment "Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) is the American entertainment subsidiary of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony."

The studio takes their direction from Japan-based Sony. Japan, in fact, required changes to The Interview assassination scene to tame it.

Re: An Offer to Sony from 2600

#200

Post by a3n »

encoderer wrote: post #199
a3n wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sony is not a US Business... Yep, it sure is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Entertainment "Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) is the American entertainment subsidiary of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony."

The studio takes their direction from Japan-based Sony. Japan, in fact, required changes to The Interview assassination scene to tame it.

Nevertheless, it's an American company, subject to and benefiting from American law enforcement. They are a relevant company for the FBI.
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