Last month, a group of hackers infiltrated the computer network of Sony Pictures Entertainment, stealing massive amounts of data and handing it over to the press.
Several of the Hollywood studio鈥檚 movies were leaked, private email exchanges were exposed and financial information was made public by the hackers, who promise to leak more in the near future.
As the FBI continues to search for the group responsible, here鈥檚 what we know so far:
A lot of data was stolen
It鈥檚 estimated about 100 terabytes were taken from Sony鈥檚 computer systems, enough to fill the world鈥檚 largest hard drive many times over.
That includes five movies 鈥� four of them unreleased 鈥� that were : , , , and. A working screenplay of the upcoming James Bond movie SPECTRE was .
Also made public was a list of Sony executive salaries and private email exchanges. According to the hackers, more information will be leaked in the near future.
The hack is embarrassing for Sony
In 2011, the company was forced to temporarily take down its online gaming PlayStation Network after a breach . This second attack means Sony didn鈥檛 follow through with their promise to up their protection against these hacks, according to cyber security expert Claudiu Popa.
鈥淭hey said they were pulling no punches and they were going after the attackers and they were beefing up their security at the time,鈥� Popa told 麻豆影视. 鈥淯nfortunately it appears that security has been lacking at the firm since.鈥�
The company鈥檚 executives have also had to backpedal after email exchanges were made public. One of Sony鈥檚 co-chairs made about U.S. President Barack Obama that were called racist. Producer Scott Rudin also caught heat for calling Angelina Jolie a 鈥�,鈥� while and were also insulted in leaked comments and exchanges.
The hackers are still at large
The alleged hackers call themselves 鈥淕OP,鈥� or the 鈥淕uardians of Peace,鈥� but little else is known about the group.
The group allegedly on Nov. 24 featuring a red skeleton and threats made in broken English that they would 鈥渃ontinue till our request be met.鈥�
Some have and are retaliating for the upcoming Sony comedy The Interview, which details a plot to assassinate the country鈥檚 leader. Though the attacks seem in 2013 by North Korea 鈥� which called the Sony attacks a 鈥� some the attack originated from the volatile nation.
Sony is in damage control mode
Sony is warning media outlets against publishing any material obtained from the hack, and asking for the data to be destroyed.
Lawyer David Boies sent a letter to news organizations Sunday stating that the company 鈥渄oes not consent to your possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading or making any use鈥� the documents leaked by the hackers.
Cyber security expert Popa said the hackers could still be holding more embarrassing information about the company, so not only is Sony鈥檚 image at stake, but its bottom line is as well.
鈥淪ony is Sony. It鈥檚 a brand. And the brand has been damaged, from a reputational perspective,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd reputation almost always translates into financial losses."
