The cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment has taken an even more disturbing turn.
The cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment has taken an even more disturbing turn.
First, it demonstrated how cyberthieves can raid a company’s most valuable trade secrets. Now, it’s escalated into a blatant terrorism threat by a group linked to North Korea and an assault on the freedom of speech directed from a capital of totalitarianism. The cyberattack and the coercion are unacceptable and cannot go unanswered.
According to news reports, the U.S. government determined a group in North Korea, or one sponsored by it, broke into Sony Pictures’ networks in retaliation for the studio’s production of a comedy depicting the assassination of leader Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures hastily withdrew the film from theatrical release after the same hackers threatened theaters. We’ve never been wild about the widespread comical treatment of Kim; he might have a funny haircut, but there is nothing funny about the gulag where hundreds of thousands of Koreans have been condemned to slavery and death. Still, the canceled movie, “The Interview,” shouldn’t be judged without being seen — and whatever its merits, the method of its demise should ring alarm bells everywhere.
The most serious threat is to free speech … Satire cannot be censored, even when it is offensive.
This is a principle entirely alien to Kim, who presides over one of the most rigidly controlled prison-states on the planet.
The cyberattack on Sony Pictures … looted sensitive trade secrets from a U.S. subsidiary of a global conglomerate. The studio is not alone in its vulnerability. Congress has tried but failed to approve legislation that would have allowed the federal government to work more closely with the private sector to protect corporate networks. We hope the next Congress will act soon. …
Meanwhile, the United States cannot let Kim intimidate movie theaters into silence nor allow his terror threats to succeed. Nor can Sony Pictures or U.S. movie theaters be expected to stand up to the threat unaided … Perhaps posting “The Interview” to YouTube, so billions of people could watch for free, would be one element in a fitting response.
The nation would not tolerate a ballistic missile landing in a movie lot; how should it respond to a cybermissile and a direct threat of violence? President Obama signed a directive laying out criteria for the use of U.S. cyberforces for offense and defense. We hope he is reading it anew today.
— Washington Post