According to Taia Global, Sony Pictures may be facing another cyber crisis. The U.S. security firm claims it has evidence that Russian hackers have been silently leaking information from the film studio's servers. And apparently this has been going on for several months now.
It's even suggested that the Russian hackers could've been the ones responsible for the catastrophic cyber attacks on Sony in November in response to Sony's role in the production of The Interview, a film that depicted the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jon-Un. The United States have since blamed those attacks on North Korea, but it's possible the Russians may have just been working unknowingly alongside the Guardians of Peace hackers who fought to prevent the film's release.
Speaking to Forbes, Taia CEO Jeffrey Carr said he was "100 percent certain" the information passed on to his company through a Ukraine-based hacker as legitimate, and that it's "highly likely" that the Russians still have access to Sony's network.
Per Forbes:
The details of the apparent breach came from Yama Tough, thought to be a previously-indicted online criminal, who was thrown out of the US having been incarcerated in Washington State, according to Carr. The data included emails from Sony staff and Excel files containing information on Sony contractors.
Analysis by Taia staff indicated the spreadsheets were not in the original dumps by the so-called Guardians of Peace (GOP), whilst the two most recent emails acquired by Carr were dated 14 January and 24 January, the CEO said. The earliest dated from August 2014. One of the leaked documents was produced by an employee of the cinema chain, who was contacted and confirmed the legitimacy of the file, Carr noted. “The material is authentic – question then is where it came from. It might be Yama Tough himself, but he’s denying that,” Carr added, noting that he had full trust in his source, who he has known since 2011.
I doubt the U.S. at this point will place the blame elsewhere, but it's possible that more than one party was involved in the hacking of Sony's systems and leaking of valuable information.
