wildercb/PrivacyTextBooks1.2 · Datasets at Hugging Face

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privacy protections, and data breaches are often privacy violations.
The Sony Breach
Sony was planning to release a new movie, a comedy called The Interview
that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Apparently, in retaliation
for the movie, North Korean hackers launched a major attack against Sony.
The hackers were able to break in because they were able to steal the
login credentials of a Sony systems administrator through a spear phishing
attack. The hacker spent several months exploring Sony’s computer system
trying to find ways to wreak the most havoc.69
On Friday, November 21, 2014, some Sony executives received an email
from a group calling itself “God’sApstls” that demanded “monetary
compensation” or else Sony “[would] be bombarded as a whole.” The spam
filters picked it up or it went otherwise unread.
The first Sony employee to log in after that weekend must have received
quite the shock. A blood-red skeleton with razor fangs had conquered every
single computer on the Sony lot, rendering the machines useless and
sparing neither interns nor executives. Superimposed in blocky crimson
letters were the words “HACKED BY THE #GOP,” along with a demand to
“obey” and five links that led to repositories of internal Sony records. Also
included was a deadline of 11 p.m. that very night, even though GOP’s
demands were ambiguous.70
Sony hoped to keep the matter quiet, but an anonymous person posted a
picture of the garish lockdown interface on Reddit, eliciting a flurry of
media attention.71 Still, at the time, Sony officials thought there wasn’t
much to worry about. Employees returned to their work. One Sony
supervisor called it “a one-day problem.”72 No one imagined the immensity
of the storm to come.
To their dismay, Sony officials learned that the hackers hadn’t just
vandalized them; the hackers had wreaked near total destruction. “Wiper”
malware, known as “Destover” or “Wipall,” erased everything stored on
3,262 of the company’s 6,797 personal computers and 837 of its 1,555
servers, mixing in a “special deleting algorithm that overwrote the data
seven different ways,” before disabling the computers’ boot software.73
The destruction wasn’t even the worst part. The hackers had created a
wound, but they wanted to maim. The hackers thus took a turn in the
direction of privacy and transformed a bad breach into an utter catastrophe.
On November 24, the GOP posted four unreleased Sony data files to file-
sharing sites. A few days later, several journalists received an email
purporting to be from “the boss of G.O.P.” with links to the anonymous
sharing site Pastebin, along with a password. The links led to a neatly
organized set of folders containing over 26 gigabytes of unencrypted Sony
personnel data, including almost 50,000 unique Social Security Numbers
and detailed biographical information, compensation details, work histories,
and confidential medical information.74 They also spread the leaked details
to media outlets such as Gawker, BuzzFeed, and The Verge.
The first news reports hit the Internet on December 1. Sony employees
began “coming to work afraid,” as multiple reports of attempted identity
theft poured in.75
The GOP dumped more files over several days in early December
2014.76 On December 8, the GOP finally articulated a motive, linking their
actions to Sony’s forthcoming The Interview, which the group called “the
movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the War!”
The GOP called for Sony to pull the movie or face further reprisals. In
addition to the note, GOP released another round of leaked information, this
time the private emails of Sony President Steve Mosko and Sony
Entertainment executive Amy Pascal. In total, the group leaked over 20,000
emails addressing sensitive personal and business issues, as well as
thousands of stored contact details, many of which included home
addresses.77 Pascal’s emails, in particular, stirred up a media circus because
many included insensitive comments about friends, associates, industry
figures, and even President Obama.
Additional emails were posted on December 13 and 14, which GOP
dubbed “Christmas” gifts.78 A final leak on December 16 warned of a
“bitter fate” for anyone present wherever The Interview was to be screened
and invoked the September 11 attacks while warning readers to keep their
distance from screenings and warning those who lived nearby to flee
altogether. The actual leak consisted of over 12,000 emails and 7,000
contacts from the account of Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony.
Prior to this leak, Sony had already cancelled several media appearances
involving the cast of The Interview, as well as most promotional events.
Upon reading the December 15 warning, Sony immediately provided
security for the film’s actors and producers. Sony cancelled star Seth
Rogen’s appearances on late-night programming. Theater chains began to
pull out of the film’s screening. Sony later issued a press release
announcing the cancellation of The Interview’s theatrical release—a
decision that was criticized by many as cowardly. President Obama even
called this decision “a mistake.”79
December 19 brought a final communication from the GOP. In it, the
group declared that Sony had suffered enough, and that they “lift[ed] the
ban,” allowing the The Interview to be released provided that Kim Jong-
Un’s death scene not be “too happy,” and that Sony not “test [them] again.”
On December 24, on Google’s servers, The Interview received an online
release, earning a modest $40 million.
The Sony hack exposed a wealth of embarrassing information about both
the company and its top executives. Amy Pascal apologized profusely and
stepped down as co-chairwoman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and
chairwoman of Sony’s motion picture group.
At least two former Sony employees brought lawsuits while the leak was
ongoing, though theirs and many others were later consolidated into a class
action. The parties reached a settlement, approved in early 2016, which cost
Sony $15 million. As part of the agreement, Sony also agreed to provide
identity-theft protection through the end of 2017 and a compensation fund
for class members who paid to protect themselves out of pocket.
The Sony breach was so harmful because of its privacy dimensions. This
is one reason why privacy regulation is so essential to data security; not
only can privacy regulation help prevent breaches, but it can also help
lessen the harm that breaches cause. Typically, the privacy harm is felt by
an organization’s employees and customers. The Sony case is somewhat
unusual in that the privacy harms were also experienced by upper
management.

privacy protections, and data breaches are often privacy violations.

The Sony Breach

Sony was planning to release a new movie, a comedy called The Interview

that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Apparently, in retaliation

for the movie, North Korean hackers launched a major attack against Sony.

The hackers were able to break in because they were able to steal the

login credentials of a Sony systems administrator through a spear phishing

attack. The hacker spent several months exploring Sony’s computer system

trying to find ways to wreak the most havoc.69

On Friday, November 21, 2014, some Sony executives received an email

from a group calling itself “God’sApstls” that demanded “monetary

compensation” or else Sony “[would] be bombarded as a whole.” The spam

filters picked it up or it went otherwise unread.

The first Sony employee to log in after that weekend must have received

quite the shock. A blood-red skeleton with razor fangs had conquered every

single computer on the Sony lot, rendering the machines useless and

sparing neither interns nor executives. Superimposed in blocky crimson

letters were the words “HACKED BY THE #GOP,” along with a demand to

“obey” and five links that led to repositories of internal Sony records. Also

included was a deadline of 11 p.m. that very night, even though GOP’s

demands were ambiguous.70

Sony hoped to keep the matter quiet, but an anonymous person posted a

picture of the garish lockdown interface on Reddit, eliciting a flurry of

media attention.71 Still, at the time, Sony officials thought there wasn’t

much to worry about. Employees returned to their work. One Sony

supervisor called it “a one-day problem.”72 No one imagined the immensity

of the storm to come.

To their dismay, Sony officials learned that the hackers hadn’t just

vandalized them; the hackers had wreaked near total destruction. “Wiper”

malware, known as “Destover” or “Wipall,” erased everything stored on

3,262 of the company’s 6,797 personal computers and 837 of its 1,555

servers, mixing in a “special deleting algorithm that overwrote the data

seven different ways,” before disabling the computers’ boot software.73

The destruction wasn’t even the worst part. The hackers had created a

wound, but they wanted to maim. The hackers thus took a turn in the

direction of privacy and transformed a bad breach into an utter catastrophe.

On November 24, the GOP posted four unreleased Sony data files to file-

sharing sites. A few days later, several journalists received an email

purporting to be from “the boss of G.O.P.” with links to the anonymous

sharing site Pastebin, along with a password. The links led to a neatly

organized set of folders containing over 26 gigabytes of unencrypted Sony

personnel data, including almost 50,000 unique Social Security Numbers

and detailed biographical information, compensation details, work histories,

and confidential medical information.74 They also spread the leaked details

to media outlets such as Gawker, BuzzFeed, and The Verge.

The first news reports hit the Internet on December 1. Sony employees

began “coming to work afraid,” as multiple reports of attempted identity

theft poured in.75

The GOP dumped more files over several days in early December

2014.76 On December 8, the GOP finally articulated a motive, linking their

actions to Sony’s forthcoming The Interview, which the group called “the

movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the War!”

The GOP called for Sony to pull the movie or face further reprisals. In

addition to the note, GOP released another round of leaked information, this

time the private emails of Sony President Steve Mosko and Sony

Entertainment executive Amy Pascal. In total, the group leaked over 20,000

emails addressing sensitive personal and business issues, as well as

thousands of stored contact details, many of which included home

addresses.77 Pascal’s emails, in particular, stirred up a media circus because

many included insensitive comments about friends, associates, industry

figures, and even President Obama.

Additional emails were posted on December 13 and 14, which GOP

dubbed “Christmas” gifts.78 A final leak on December 16 warned of a

“bitter fate” for anyone present wherever The Interview was to be screened

and invoked the September 11 attacks while warning readers to keep their

distance from screenings and warning those who lived nearby to flee

altogether. The actual leak consisted of over 12,000 emails and 7,000

contacts from the account of Michael Lynton, chairman and CEO of Sony.

Prior to this leak, Sony had already cancelled several media appearances

involving the cast of The Interview, as well as most promotional events.

Upon reading the December 15 warning, Sony immediately provided

security for the film’s actors and producers. Sony cancelled star Seth

Rogen’s appearances on late-night programming. Theater chains began to

pull out of the film’s screening. Sony later issued a press release

announcing the cancellation of The Interview’s theatrical release—a

decision that was criticized by many as cowardly. President Obama even

called this decision “a mistake.”79

December 19 brought a final communication from the GOP. In it, the

group declared that Sony had suffered enough, and that they “lift[ed] the

ban,” allowing the The Interview to be released provided that Kim Jong-

Un’s death scene not be “too happy,” and that Sony not “test [them] again.”

On December 24, on Google’s servers, The Interview received an online

release, earning a modest $40 million.

The Sony hack exposed a wealth of embarrassing information about both

the company and its top executives. Amy Pascal apologized profusely and

stepped down as co-chairwoman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and

chairwoman of Sony’s motion picture group.

At least two former Sony employees brought lawsuits while the leak was

ongoing, though theirs and many others were later consolidated into a class

action. The parties reached a settlement, approved in early 2016, which cost

Sony $15 million. As part of the agreement, Sony also agreed to provide

identity-theft protection through the end of 2017 and a compensation fund

for class members who paid to protect themselves out of pocket.

The Sony breach was so harmful because of its privacy dimensions. This

is one reason why privacy regulation is so essential to data security; not

only can privacy regulation help prevent breaches, but it can also help

lessen the harm that breaches cause. Typically, the privacy harm is felt by

an organization’s employees and customers. The Sony case is somewhat

unusual in that the privacy harms were also experienced by upper

management.