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Sony back to normal after cyberattack
From: Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2015 13:29:56 -0700
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/74383232/sony-back-to-normal-after-cyberattack Once every two or three weeks, when Michael Lynton is eating lunch at a restaurant or traveling for business, someone brings it up. It's usually an acquaintance, but it's sometimes a stranger. Either way, it's someone who has read excerpts of emails stolen from the 55-year-old chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment as part of the massive computer hack that began a year ago. Though he finds those conversations strange, he mostly brushes it off. Lynton - and Sony - wants to keep the worst cyberattack in American corporate history squarely in the rear-view mirror. "When you walk around the studio now, oddly, it feels very much the way it did before the hack," Lynton said. "It feels like we're back to normal and that we're very much down to business. And that to me is the greatest triumph." Lynton's tone stands in contrast to the atmosphere during the months after cyberterrorists launched a devastating attack on Sony's computer systems in response to the studio's decision to release The Interview, a film that depicted the fictional assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The assault, which the US blamed on North Korea, went public November 24. It wiped data from its servers, exposed the personal information of tens of thousands of people, and revealed embarrassing emails between executives and filmmakers, including racially tinged jokes between then-studio chief Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin. In the darkest moments, employees received intimidating messages, and movie theaters that planned to screenThe Interview were threatened with a 9/11-style terrorism attack. Executives were widely criticised for greenlighting the movie, while free speech advocates and President Barack Obama rebuked Sony's leadership when they briefly appeared to halt the release. Beyond the studio walls, cybersecurity analysts believe the hack will have a lasting effect on American companies wanting to avoid their own version of Sony's crisis. Information technology departments are ramping up their security systems and re-evaluating what kind of information to keep on the network and for how long. Some individuals have become more cautious with email. The ordeal was seen as a wake-up call to board rooms and corner offices around the country and "did more to raise national security cyber-awareness than any other single event", according to John Carlin, assistant attorney general at the Justice Department for national security. It wasn't the typical cybercrime by thieves in search of credit card information to sell - it was an enemy nation causing as much damage, chaos and humiliation as possible, said cybersecurity expert Peter Toren. "It was a real game-changer," said Toren, who used to work in the Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Lynton in recent weeks has trekked to two industry events where he discussed the hack and the need to prepare for the worst. On Nov. 10, three men were indicted in the massive cyberattack on JPMorgan Chase & Co. He acknowledges that the company had to make up its response to the hack as it went along. Staff members were forced to go analog, relying on paper and pens, fax machines and chalkboards. Employees hauled old BlackBerrys out of storage, and workers were paid with paper checks. Sony took its network offline to keep the damage from spreading after the breach was discovered. Within 48 hours, the FBI sent 20 agents to the Culver City lot to do forensics. Today Lynton tells fellow executives that a robust defense against cybercriminals is not enough. Companies need to know what to do when a disaster strikes and have the "fire drill" ready. "I do think that people need to do that exercise," he said, "because beefing up your security is not going to do it."
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- Sony back to normal after cyberattack Audrey McNeil (Nov 30)