Hackers leak Sony passwords, employee social security numbers and salaries The cyber attack against Sony Pictures continues to be a major problem for the company. For one, it looks like the hackers used malware called Destover (which security firms believe could have been created in Korea) that can completely disable hard drives, rendering computers useless. Worse, the hackers calling themselves the Guardians of Peace recently leaked more info: a whole folder full of company passwords, as well as former and current employees salaries and social security numbers. And yet, all these couldve been avoided, according to some of the companys former employees. They told Fusion that Sonys information security team is a complete joke, prone to ignoring reports about vulnerabilities. However, its unclear if the company couldve done anything to prevent the recent security breaches, though. Aside from the fact that the GoP claimed to have physical access to Sonys offices, the malware they used is so powerful, the FBI had to issue a flash warning to US businesses right after Thanksgiving. While the FBIs bulletin didnt mention specifics, security firms Trend Micro and Kaspersky have just confirmed that its about the same malware that took down Sonys computers. Kaspersky has also noted that Destover works just like older malware used for previous cyber attacks against companies in Saudi and South Korea. Further, the firm has determined that its Destover samples were created on a computer using the Korean language during working hours in the peninsula. A North Korean official denied the accusation: My country, he said, publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy. You might recall, Sony Pictures suspected that North Korea might be behind the attacks as retaliation for The Interview, a Franco and Rogen starrer about an assassination attempt against the countrys leader, Kim Jong Un. A North Korean official denied the accusation, however, telling Salted Hash that linking his country to Sonys hacking is but a fabrication. My country, he said, publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy. As for what was stolen from Sonys computers, the answer would be a lot. A GOP spokesperson told us in the past that they possess terabytes of data taken from Sonys machines. Within the past few days, theyve made good on their threat to release sensitive info if Sony doesnt acquiesce to their (rather vague) demands of equality. And some of the recent files they distributed contain Sonys IT data, such as SecurID tokens and certificates, along with a directory labeled Passwords, full of, well, passwords for major movies social media accounts. Finally, as weve mentioned earlier, the latest documents posted in public include both former and current employees (including actors Sylvester Stallones and Rebel Wilsons) salaries and social security numbers. Unfortunately for Sony, it doesnt look like this issues close to being resolved and its likely that the hackers are still sitting on yet more sensitive info. Filed under: Misc, Sony Comments Source: Kaspersky, Buzzfeed, The Wall Street Journal, Salted Hash, Bloomberg ift.tt/1yv5zrW
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 10:30:08 +0000
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