Sony Pictures Hackers Release Seventh Stolen Data Dump
The hacking group behind the massive Sony Pictures Entertainment attack has posted a new message containing links to what it claims is the seventh archive of data stolen from the studio.
They also promised more disclosures to come. “We are preparing for you a Christmas gift,” reads the message, which was posted to file-sharing site Pastebin. “The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state.”
The message also solicited suggestions of what should be included in forthcoming dumps.
The latest collection of documents contained an internal PowerPoint presentation on Grouper, a video site that Sony acquired in 2006 and subsequently renamed Crackle. It appeared in a file directory labeled “junderwood,” which appears to be a reference to Jim Underwood, a former Sony Pictures executive who now works at Facebook.
A spokesperson for Sony had no immediate comment, and the files have not been independently confirmed by Re/code.
Sony Pictures suffered one of the worst hack attacks in recent memory on Nov. 24, when a hacking group calling itself Guardians of Peace crippled the company’s networks and brought its business to a standstill. Since then, Sony has endured waves of steadily escalating disclosures of sensitive corporate data, including embarrassing correspondence between senior executives, and financial and salary details.
Two weeks ago, Re/code first reported that investigators working for Sony believe that the group may be linked to North Korea. The FBI is now also actively investigating a possible link. North Korea has denied involvement, but called the hack a “righteous deed.”
North Korea has condemned a forthcoming Sony-produced film called “The Interview,” about two American tabloid-TV reporters who are granted an interview with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. North Korea has called the film “an act of war,” and lobbied the United Nations and President Barack Obama to stop its release. The film is on schedule to be released on Dec. 25.
Earlier this week, Re/code reported that Seth Rogen, the co-director and co-star of the film, revised a climatic scene depicting the death of Kim Jong-un in “The Interview” at the request of senior Sony Corp. executives in Japan.
Arik Hesseldahl and Dawn Chmielewski
Re/code
Reuters / Kacper Pempel
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