The Sony Pictures Hackers who go by the “Guardians of Peace“, GOP are threatening to release a bounty of much more sensitive data harvested from last month’s massive cyber intrusion, one of the worst in recent times. As part of a statement released on a website which has since been deleted, the hacker group said “We are preparing for you a Christmas gift, the gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state.” Analysts have estimated about $100M to clean up this cyber intrusion mess created by the leaks.
Exactly how the hack occurred is yet to be determined but it was reported that the attackers had tried to extort Sony before going public with the embarrassing emails regarding private communication about Hollywood celebrities and jokes about the President. The most recent round of published leaks was an early version of the script for the newest James Bond movie, “Spectre,” which was meant to begin filming in 2015.
President Barrack Obama also appeared as one of the subjects in the Sony Pictures emails leaked by the hackers among several other famous Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie, Michael Fassbender and Kevin Hart . In some of the leaked emails, Angelina Jolie was called “a spoiled brat” while other racially abusing jokes about president Obama’s taste in movies such as “Django Unchained” and “12 years of Slave” were also made.
Both Scott Rudin, an Oscar-winning producer and one of the most powerful people in Sony Pictures Entertainment and Co-Chairman, Amy Pascal have publicly apologized regarding these leaked private communications. Rudin stated that they were “Private emails between friends and colleagues written in haste and without much thought or sensitivity, even when the content of them is meant to be in jest, can result in offense where none was intended”. Amy Pascal also stated that her comments were “insensitive and inappropriate” and she accepts full responsibility for her words while also apologizing to anyone who was offended.
Meanwhile, several notable names in the films industry, have expressed their opinion on the issue, with some claiming that the Sony duo should not be criticized for emails that were supposed to be private, while others, like Al Sharpton, suggests that apologies are not enough, comparing the racist remarks to the ones of the disgraced NBA owner Donald Sterling.
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