Sony Hack Comp - H 2014
Courtesy of Sony Pictures EntertainmentAs fallout from the cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment continues to grow, it now appears that the leaked files include the Social Security numbers of more than 47,000 current and former employees, including celebrities like Sylvester Stallone, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Other names with personal information that’s shown up in the files include director Judd Apatow and actress Rebel Wilson.
The Journal said that the data-security firm Identity Finder LLC analyzed 33,000 of the SPE documents and found personal information, salaries and home addresses for individuals who worked at Sony Pictures from as far back as 2000.
A group calling itself Guardians of Peace has taken credit for the cyberattack, which first hit the studio on Nov. 24.
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The studio had no immediate comment on the latest revelations, although earlier this week SPE CEO Michael Lynton and co-chairman Amy Pascal issued a company-wide memo calling the hack “a brazen attack on our company, our employees and our business partners.”
The Journal also reported that much of the data analyzed by Identity Finder was stored in Microsoft Excel files without password protection. And it said that investigators, including the FBI and the computer security team FireEye, have found evidence of malware used in an attack last year against South Korean banks and television stations.
North Korea, or its supporters, have been suspected in the attack because of North Korean outrage over the upcoming Sony Pictures comedy The Interview, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco as TV reporters who are recruited to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The film, which the studio is currently advertising widely, is scheduled for release Dec. 25.
A budget for the film — among the files hackers have leaked to the media — revealed that the movie cost $44 million and that Rogen was paid more than $8.4 million, while Franco received $6.5 million.
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