North Korea Wins!!!

Grand Moff Tarkin

They may have done it themselves to try and make the US look bad on a world stage.

RandomName2

Grand Moff Tarkin wrote: »

They may have done it themselves to try and make the US look bad on a world stage.

This is getting really fking weird at this stage.

The US has the most aggressive stance against North Korea in many years. Threatening to put in on the list of terrorist sponsoring countries, and other massive "repercussions"... over a movie. Hey! Looks like North Korea has just been wiped off the face of the internet.

I swear, the US seems to feel that they are the only ones who can monitor, police the internet, and use cyber terrorism. Isn't Sony Pictures ambling up to back a new version of SOPA?

superelliptic

They are back up now;

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30584093

I have no problem with North Korea being the recipient of a nation wide interwebs blackout but its mental when you think that the US can just ring Beijing and just say "Hey guys, if you could you just pull the plug on those NK lads for a day or so - that'd be great", and it gets done. Its a fairly good reminder to them lads who's boss.

dr.fuzzenstein

superelliptic wrote: »

They are back up now;

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30584093

I have no problem with North Korea being the recipient of a nation wide interwebs blackout but its mental when you think that the US can just ring Beijing and just say "Hey guys, if you could you just pull the plug on those NK lads for a day or so - that'd be great", and it gets done. Its a fairly good reminder to them lads who's boss.

Who says it was the US who got China to bring down North Korea's link? Anyone could have done it. Remember, NK has an intranet, not an internet. If the link to the outside world goes down, 95% of people will never know.

Quote:
Dyn's chief scientist, James Cowie, told the BBC that if it were indeed an attack, "it would not take a tremendous effort to carry out".

"It is one connection across the border... to overload the routing infrastructure would probably not require the efforts of a nation-state, it could be just one dedicated person," he added.

shruikan2553

Its looking like the film is being shown on Christmas day. NK are preparing for more empty threats.

Cantremember

https://twitter.com/saintrph/status/545956546208092160

http://prohardver.hu/dl/upc/2014-12/7456_20141218_134849_2.jpg

North Korean internet!

dr.fuzzenstein

shruikan2553 wrote: »

Its looking like the film is being shown on Christmas day. NK are preparing for more empty threats.

Interesting, it would certainly support the theory that Sony engineered the whole situation.
It makes sense, make movie about assassinating Kim Jong Un, fabricate a few false threats, spin it into an international incident and the predictable response from North Korea will generate advertisement for the movie worth billions. When NK's internet went down, Sony must have creamed their pants.
It certainly fits in with the theory that North Korea's IT capabilities are not sufficient to cause much bother to Sony.

And as an aside, a website with pictures if Kim Jong In looking at things. It's strangely amusing:
http://kimjongunlookingatthings.tumblr.com/

Custardpi

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

It certainly fits in with the theory that North Korea's IT capabilities are not sufficient to cause much bother to Sony.

In fairness they wouldn't have to be. North Korea does have some sympathisers in the West, some of whom could well be capable of penetrating what appears not to be a very secure system (though no doubt Sony are frantically updating it now! ). Failing that there's probably plenty of hackers-for-hire out there willing to do the job for a wad of Room 39 cash.

MadsL

Some US theatres have just announced surprise Christmas Day showings.

Allyall

MadsL wrote: »

Some US theatres have just announced surprise Christmas Day showings.

... And there ends the best marketing campaign for a Movie, in years..

AboutaWeekAgo

If anyone wants to get in the Christmas mood by watching this movie tonight you're in luck, Sony are releasing it online

http://m.bbc.com/news/technology-30599836

Available only in the US at the moment, I'm sure an alternative stream will appear soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT9xuXQjxMM

Life is imitating art!

Kim Jong Un is playing the part of Bishop Brennan and the hackers who threatened US cinemas with terror if they showed are these two eejits.

Mr.S

Mr.S wrote: »

The money they earn via VOD will not come close to the planned theatrical release, added in the fact by using VOD as the main release, they have essentially leaked the film in HD for pirates. Very much doubt this was staged.

It is more of a two fingered exercise aimed at the North Korean leadership, after all they'd earn nothing if the release was completely canned.

I think this will be one of the few "free" films ever released by a big production company to spite the opposition.

barry181091

Deleted User wrote: »

It is more of a two fingered exercise aimed at the North Korean leadership, after all they'd earn nothing if the release was completely canned.

I think this will be one of the few "free" films ever released by a big production company to spite the opposition.

Quite. This whole escapade should go down in history really.

Sad, I usually am all for pirating but this time I want to get the movie and support them (6USD to rent) but you can't without a US credit card Thought the VPN would have been good enough.

NZ_2014

Its probably already been said but I can't understand why they pulled the cinema release in the first place.

I can't imagine North Korea having people based in america ready to attack cinemas. North Korea seem to just make big threats to appear powerful to their own people.

I suppose Sony didn't want to take the chance.

NZ_2014

barry181091 wrote: »

Sad, I usually am all for pirating but this time I want to get the movie and support them (6USD to rent).

Ah right so you would have supported them this time but u can't be arsed any other time..?

Only kidding

Allyall

Mr.S wrote: »

The money they earn via VOD will not come close to the planned theatrical release, added in the fact by using VOD as the main release, they have essentially leaked the film in HD for pirates. Very much doubt this was staged.

I left out :pac:
Partially on purpose.
They also lost a couple of hundred euro on leaking of Annie and other movies after the attack. And possibly the scripts etc..

Allyall

Sony insider -- not North Korea -- likely involved in hack, experts say

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sony-hack-inside-job-not-north-korea-20141231-story.html

This week, prominent San Mateo, Calif., cybersecurity firm Norse Corp. — whose clients include government agencies, financial institutions and technology companies — briefed law enforcement officials on evidence it collected that pointed toward an inside job.
"We can't find any indication that North Korea either ordered, masterminded or funded this attack," Kurt Stammberger, a senior vice president at Norse, said in an interview with The Times. Although conceding that his findings were not conclusive, Stammberger added: "Nobody has been able to find a credible connection to the North Korean government."....


...

Instead, the data pointed to a former employee who may have collaborated with outside hackers. The employee, who left the studio in a May restructuring, had the qualifications and access necessary to carry out the crime, according to Stammberger.
Moreover, names of company servers and passwords were programmed into the malware that infiltrated the studio's network, suggesting hackers had inside knowledge of the studio's systems, Stammberger said.

The FBI, which first accused North Korea on Dec. 19, has stood by its conclusion, saying in a statement there is "no credible information to indicate that any other individual is responsible for this cyber incident."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZIiPsqVLa8

Tony EH

[shock]Well there's a shock[/shock]

:pac:

Capt'n Midnight

Sony have been caught telling fibs before

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4741259.stm

A judge has finalised a settlement in which film studio Sony will pay $1.5m (£850,000) to film fans after using a fake critic to praise its movies.

In 2001, ads for films including Hollow Man and A Knight's Tale quoted praise from a reviewer called David Manning, who was exposed as being invented.

and they've been fined for data leaks too
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/17/sony_ico_fine_accepted/


Oh BTW the film isn't worth watching, or so I'm told.

Egginacup

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Sony have been caught telling fibs before

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4741259.stm


and they've been fined for data leaks too
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/17/sony_ico_fine_accepted/


Oh BTW the film isn't worth watching, or so I'm told.

**** :pac:

Ferriter

Visited North Korea in 2009 after spending a few months over in Asia. I was fascinated at the time. Such a terrible and strange society. You cannot visit there as a tourist without having an official tour guide. The minibus we were on had a picture of Kim Jong-il, Marx and Lenin just above the drivers head. Communist rhetoric was everywhere. Never stopped. The tour guide mentioned the NK appreciation for the struggles of the IRA in Northern Ireland.

Looking back, it almost seems ghoulish now. A Disney Land for voyeuristic tourists to have another stamp on their passport. A genuinely wretched country. God love the people who have to live their lives in that place.