What do you think about Sonys decision to capitulate?

By : Administrator
Published 19th December 2014 |
Read latest comment - 30th December 2014

I think this will be worthy of a film in it's own right! North Korea takes on Hollywood and wins.

Sony makes a comedy about the North Korean leader, then before it's imminent release Sony are threatened with a hack attack and Cinema chains are threatened with terrorist attacks!

So in this cyber war of words, it appears North Korea has won as Sony pulls the plug and ends up losing reportedly $75 million 

George Clooney has launched a scathing attack on the press and Hollywood and thinks the film should be released. Others have been shouting that it violates the freedom of speech.

But if the threats are deemed to be genuine, is it right to risk terror attacks on civilians for the sake of preserving the right of free speech?

Or should Sony have stood firm and been backed by the Government, escalating it if necessary?


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn
Comments

I always thought North Korea only had dial up - how do they intend to hack anything with that?

In this day and age, it's reasonably easy to block a countries IP, preventing access, and as North Korea only has about 4 IP addresses, then the job is even easier.

I'd suggest, the threats are from outside of the country, meaning there are 'spies' all over the world for North Korea.

Or more likely, this isn't the case at all, and an organisation fighting for truth and justice has taken up the chalice.

Either way, Sony won't have taken the decision lightly, as they are undoubtedly loosing a small fortune from pulling the plug.

I'm in two minds. The first is down the line of restricting freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and opinion, the other is that there is much hype and propaganda about anything that is different. This one sided, unbalanced view skews the average thought process, and this, when repeated time and time again, can cause people to think in a certain way, towing a party line.

Of course, this film is a comedy, and I would have loved to have seen it on that merit, but, the knowledge that people will form an opinion by artistic representation scares me.

There are those who think of Kazakhstan to be filled with Borats. Russia to be filled with people who drive like lunatics, shooting each other (Not far from the truth in Moscow). Ukraine to be the badlands, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan to be filled with suicide bombers and madmen with machetes, and they also believe Africa is a country.

All the above is most inaccurate - but for many, their opinion, formed by naivety  is shaped by media in one way or another.

So, to summarise, release the film, and then fly to Pyongyang for a weekend break. 

There is more to the picture with Sony than we have seen methinks.

(I'll admit, I am sounding a bit one world order etc)


The First Choice for First Aid
From Cardiff to Calcutta...

I always thought North Korea only had dial up - how do they intend to hack anything with that?

In this day and age, it's reasonably easy to block a countries IP, preventing access, and as North Korea only has about 4 IP addresses, then the job is even easier.”

 

lol I think that's the impression we like to paint of North Korea ridiculing them about some of their backwards technology and blinkered view on the world.

The average user might be on a dial up Windows 95 machine, but in reality though cyber terrorism is actually one area where they can be pretty sophisticated. They have no morality checks or balances and any young talent is nurtured with no doubt plenty of budget thrown at it and plenty of covertly imported kit.

For young hackers it must be a like a dream, state financed and sponsored. They have no legal issues and can pretty much do what they like without ramifications. What's anyone going to do? Sanctions, invade them? Issue a stern statement?

Obama finally decided to comment, saying it's a mistake and Sony should have spoken to him, but what would the US Government done to help or support them?

Sony has hit back saying it hasn't caved in, instead blaming Cinema chains, as without their support they have no distribution network, but it looks like they will release the film on DVD or online streaming services.

On the face of it, looks like a victory for the North Korean cyber geeks.


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

On the face of it, looks like a victory for the North Korean cyber geeks.
 

Ok, that's more like it, a full nationwide internet outage

So North Korea mysteriously went off the air as a behind the scenes cyber skirmish kicked off. 

The BBC is reporting that North Korea is now partially back online but also puts thing in perspective. The average citizen is denied access to the world wide web, an North Korea has a more draconian version of the great Chinese Firewall, meaning few will read our western ramblings 

Instead they more of a Statewide Intranet showing suitable viewing, such as the Worlds funniest goose stepping, and a 101 ways to serve rice.

So the average North Korean citizen will be unaware of all the fuss and nothing like the hysteria we would see in the UK or US if Facebook and Google went off the air.

It turns out the country only has a single connection out of the country which is routed through a Chinese ISP, which makes bringing it down relatively straight forward by overloading the data on the circuit, or just a simple denial of service attack. Unlike the UK which multiple entry and exit points, with cables laid across the Channel, North Sea and the Atlantic.

So is this the future of warfare, cyber terrorism carried out by hormonal spotty teenagers!


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

DDOS not required... 

That single connection to china look anything like this Steve? If so, it just got unplugged...


 Sorry. I'm really bored at work...


The First Choice for First Aid
From Cardiff to Calcutta...

DDOS not required... 

That single connection to china look anything like this Steve? If so, it just got unplugged...

 

lol I knew secretly you were a covert hacker!


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

If only it were that easy... I'd have no competition!


The First Choice for First Aid
From Cardiff to Calcutta...

Seems like it's now going to be shown, BBC News.   The whole saga should boost ticket sales!


Playstaion (Sony)& Xbox (Microsoft) have suffered - seems my decision not to let my boys go online with either has paid off.

They did briefly connect with people aground the World on Wii, but i do keep that unplugged from the Net when its not in use ! 

Seem to remember (admit to having a couple of drinks over the xmas break so memory a bit foggy ) a bit of backlash from the gaming community, have to see what comes out regarding this over the coming days.

On the OP - i think Sony was wrong, but have they prevented a bigger issue for the cinemas etc if they were going to be targeted. Really is a tough call either way!


Clive

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