In a statement issued to his staff Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynton said that security advisors of Sony Pictures Entertainment believe the cyberattack was designed by an organized group.
In an email Mandia said that it was a sort of well planned and unparalleled crime committed by an organized group. He added that Sony or no other company could have been prepared to counter it.
Kevin Mandia
He added that investigation is to be continued into the attack that almost paralyzed the company’s computers for about two weeks. While responding to employees’ concerns about security, Lynton passed on a message from Kevin Mandia who is a chief operating officer of FireEye Inc.; the firm that is responsible for assisting the investigation into the cyberattack.
Mandia described the attack on Sony Pictures as an unprecedented one and said that the hackers group used a malware that was undetectable by industry-standard antivirus software.
In an email Mandia said that it was a sort of well planned and unparalleled crime committed by an organized group. He added that Sony or no other company could have been prepared to counter it.
A group calling itself ‘Guardians of Peace’ disrupted the U.S. unit’s computers and disseminated thousands of secret documents. Some of the documents contained thousands of Social Security numbers of employees as well as celebrities.
The employees of Sony Pictures recently received threatening emails from the hackers. They threatened their families and the studio as well. The emails that say they came from the head of the ‘Guardians of Peace’ asked the employees to sign their names at an email address otherwise their families will be in danger.
According to the studio officials they are aware of the threatening emails and have been working with law enforcement. The FBI also said that they are well aware of the situation.
A person in know of the matter says that an internal investigation by Sony Pictures linked the hacking incident to a group associated with North Korea that is known as DarkSeoul. DarkSeoul had attacked and wiped out computers of South Korean banks as well as broadcasters in the past year.
This archive content was originally published December 6, 2014 (www.betawired.com)