The Interview

[DigitalChaos]

I'm really confused about how you guys think bloggers have more credibility than US intelligence agents. Don't you think the gov has some evidence they haven't released if they're saying these things?

1 - I simply dug up a short and easy to read article that conveys my view. Not the other way around.
2 - Mark Rogers isn't a random blogger. He has heavy security industry experience and loads of security cred. I actually know him as he is the head of security at a gathering I frequently attend. http://marcrogers.org/about/
3 - If that's not enough, there are plenty of other in the industry who also are calling bullshit: http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidenc...-hack-is-thin/ If you don't know who Kim Zetter is, just look up her Stuxnet work.
4 - And if you want to dig in for yourself, this is probably the biggest central collection of info on the hack: https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/20...014-sony-hack/

The security industry usually pokes giant holes in whatever the US intel agencies convey to the public. It's entirely possible they know something we don't... after all, they have eyes on the entire internet that nobody else does.... but that is their primary edge. From what they have said so far, that doesn't seem to be the case though.

[Khrz]

I'm really confused about how you guys think bloggers have more credibility than US intelligence agents. Don't you think the gov has some evidence they haven't released if they're saying these things?

Well first of all, it's not really like official channels are really forthcoming or reliable in that kind of situation. I'm not talking about their competence, I'm talking about filtering the amount and quality of the information released for the general public.
And you have it backwards : we don't trust a blogger over intelligence? It's just that the bloggers articulate our thoughts and doubts better than we do.
It just doesn't fit the usual modus operandi of the DPRK. I'm not saying they aren't involved : I'm just questioning whether the DPRK is the actual, direct culprit.

The puzzle doesn't work for me. The official statements are foggy and confusing, and the whole situation is just plain weird.

[DigitalChaos]

Further, the claims about US Intel should actually be viewed very skeptically considering all source have been anonymous so far. I believe the only official face has been Obama saying that there is no credible threat in terms of theaters getting attacked.
https://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/20...ameperspective

[Space Suicide]

This movie looked bad and unneeded.

This movie was massively hypocritical anyways. I know this country, if another country made a movie just like this and opted in Obama as the figure head subject of the two idiots assassination plot it'd be cancelled and frowned upon too. So since the US is the one releasing it and claims (fraudulent or not) threats for its release are from elsewhere, it's seen as babyish. The other way around wouldn't fly. I guarantee it.

For the record, this movie didn't offend me so I'm not a hater. I loved Harold and Kumar in Guantanamo Bay and that movie wasn't very forgiving with G Bay or Bush either.

[Jinsai]

I agree that it should be leaked online by Sony.

At this point, Sony wants nothing to do with this movie. It's been like that for a while, even before the more recent threats against theater goers. Sony pictures is no doubt about to experience a dramatic restructuring, starting with the firing of every person who green lighted this movie.

If it is leaked online, it won't be Sony who does it... and I'm sure Seth Rogan has already gotten a phone call threatening to not only end his career but sue the living shit out of him if he does it. I would assume that Sony is currently in frantic containment mode.

Regardless whether we believe the US's intelligence is correct on the source of the threat... who the fuck else would be upset about it? I guess the other possibility would be that it's a "prank."

EDIT: Actually, what if it was done by those asshole kids who keep DDOS attacking video game networks? They already were willing to call in a fake bomb threat to a commercial flight because the CEO of Sony was on board.

"All the world will denounce the SONY!" actually sounds like it was contrived by some kids giggling to themselves.

[DigitalChaos]

EDIT: Actually, what if it was done by those asshole kids who keep DDOS attacking video game networks? They already were willing to call in a fake bomb threat to a commercial flight because the CEO of Sony was on board.

"All the world will denounce the SONY!" actually sounds like it was contrived by some kids giggling to themselves.

It has the vibe of this, but the impact and scope of the hack makes it hard to believe. Maybe if someone paid a sizable group a shitload of money.

In terms of who would contrive this ridiculous shit, (I'm not being serious here) imagine this...
Some Feds are sitting at a bar drinking. They complain about how public support for war is getting really low. They complain about how the public is also insanely apathetic and won't rise up unless you take away their entertainment. Then they complain about how the bar for their intel is really high, yet the kids on the Internet will pull out their pitchforks at the slightest bit of "evidence." Then one guy jokingly says they should just have the Internet declare wars for them instead... maybe by attacking their entertainment. It's pretty ridiculous but they try to make it worse just for fun... They decide that Sony is the most hated entertainment company and North Korea would be the least likely instigator. "duuuuuuuuude. we HAVE to try this!"

Now, someone please turn this into a comedy video skit. kthx

[Space Suicide]

EDIT: Actually, what if it was done by those asshole kids who keep DDOS attacking video game networks? They already were willing to call in a fake bomb threat to a commercial flight because the CEO of Sony was on board.

"All the world will denounce the SONY!" actually sounds like it was contrived by some kids giggling to themselves.

Evidently those retards were stopped and back hacked by a group called Finest Squad. Evidently their addresses and personal information was forwarded to the FBI and at least one member was actually arrested for the shit the group pulled.

However, what you brought up doesn't seem to be the realm out of their douchebaggery.

[Jinsai]

It has the vibe of this, but the impact and scope of the hack makes it hard to believe. Maybe if someone paid a sizable group a shitload of money.

That depends, and only if you believe that it would be impossible to hack Sony's databases without large sums of money.

1. The kids responsible for taking down Playstation Network (and recently Xbox Live) said that they were planning something big for this month.

2. Sony has had the FBI trying to track them down for almost a year now.

3. They got a commercial plane landed and redirected after issuing a fake bomb threat. The reason? For the lulz, because a CEO for Sony was on board. They later taunted him by posting pictures of his dad's grave stone... not sure what that's all about, but anyway...

4. They already stated that the main reason they do this shit is for fun, and to see how much disruption they can cause that will piss people off while they get away with it... Their main target so far has been Sony.

They've been trolling Sony for a while now, and Sony's been losing a lot of money from it. This would just be upping the ante. The only thing is they're not (to the best of my knowledge) immediately taking credit for it. Maybe they want to see how much damage they can do while North Korea gets blamed for it?

[Jinsai]

Evidently those retards were stopped and back hacked by a group called Finest Squad. Evidently their addresses and personal information was forwarded to the FBI and at least one member was actually arrested for the shit the group pulled.

Hadn't heard about that, but that would be nice. When was this supposed to have happened?

Doesn't mean it isn't a similar kind of group though. I never understood the "motivations" behind all of that shit.

[aggroculture]

Why do they hate Sony?

This whole story leaves me mystified, from the stupid idea for the movie to...this.

[DigitalChaos]

Evidently those retards were stopped and back hacked by a group called Finest Squad. Evidently their addresses and personal information was forwarded to the FBI and at least one member was actually arrested for the shit the group pulled.

However, what you brought up doesn't seem to be the realm out of their douchebaggery.

Hadn't heard about that, but that would be nice. When was this supposed to have happened?

Doesn't mean it isn't a similar kind of group though. I never understood the "motivations" behind all of that shit.

Yes, and it was delicious.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hacker...214600680.html
My favorite part was that they used a YTCracker song to announce the doxing.

[Space Suicide]

Hadn't heard about that, but that would be nice. When was this supposed to have happened?

Doesn't mean it isn't a similar kind of group though.

The group counter hacked and locked them out of certain servers by tracing their server's static IP address. Whenever it goes live they can basically block their DDoS hacks immediately. It happened about a week ago or so (last Friday or something). Their latest big "hack" was supposedly to knock off Xbox Live Servers Christmas Day. A new twitter from "Lizard Squad" is still backing up claims of doing that but it's probably just a troll. Who knows though.

[DigitalChaos]

That depends, and only if you believe that it would be impossible to hack Sony's databases without large sums of money.

1. The kids responsible for taking down Playstation Network (and recently Xbox Live) said that they were planning something big for this month.

2. Sony has had the FBI trying to track them down for almost a year now.

3. They got a commercial plane landed and redirected after issuing a fake bomb threat. The reason? For the lulz, because a CEO for Sony was on board. They later taunted him by posting pictures of his dad's grave stone... not sure what that's all about, but anyway...

4. They already stated that the main reason they do this shit is for fun, and to see how much disruption they can cause that will piss people off while they get away with it... Their main target so far has been Sony.

They've been trolling Sony for a while now, and Sony's been losing a lot of money from it. This would just be upping the ante. The only thing is they're not (to the best of my knowledge) immediately taking credit for it. Maybe they want to see how much damage they can do while North Korea gets blamed for it?

All of this is possible, I would just be amazed.
As Space Suicide mentioned, the big plans were just a DDoS on game networks. It's a trivial task. You can buy the resources for a few hundred bucks. The hack was much more technically impressive. Not only did they gain access to a shitload of stuff, but they used the PSN network servers to seed the torrents of the leaks... holy fuck. That said, I have personally done firefighting for an almost identical situation that was instigated by a single kid in south america for a smaller company. On top of that, the hackers also seem to have kicked off some sort of replicating virus that was intended to erase the contents of any machine it could touch.

[DigitalChaos]

I never understood the "motivations" behind all of that shit.

There is a HUGE overlap in similarities behind the random hacker groups you see online and the crime that happens on the streets. In many instances, it is a mix of young and naive kids mixed with older ones who have little to lose and too much idle time. They operate in an environment where breaking the law is a routine way of life and frequently a method of obtaining money. Many times this comes down to kids simply entertaining their own ego and looking for the thrill.

Hell, some are just very intelligent shut-ins who get addicted to the power and risk. Bask in the wonder of this guy. I used to interface with this guy and it was absolutely surreal to see the news break when he got busted (again):

[DigitalChaos]

The theater chain that I work for (Alamo Drafthouse) was totally going to be the only chain to still show the film. Then Sony canceled the film entirely. So now, all of our Alamo locations will be showing Team America on Christmas Day. Pretty fucking awesome.

looks like this is getting shut down too
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/...source=twitter

christ...

[Deepvoid]

looks like this is getting shut down too
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/...source=twitter

christ...

Really?? Can't even show a movie that is 10 years old?
This is getting ridiculous.

[richardp]

looks like this is getting shut down too
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/...source=twitter

christ...

Yep it just went through this morning. Word is that Paramount isn't just pulling the rights for cinemas but are pulling the DVDs and Blurays of it as well, essentially making this film now OOP.

At least we WERE going to do this.

[DigitalChaos]

Someone needs to project these movies onto the fucking moon on a loop. Fuck all of this.

[DF118]

What's really sad about this, is that they're not scared of any reprisal other than further embarrassment.

[r_k_f]

This is the slipperiest of slopes.. We caved to an unknown group of cyber terrorists, what will those truly ruthless terrorists (who we know can follow thru on a threat) think of this?

[marodi]

So some nut cases don't want me to watch The Interview or Team America because of their anti-North Korean themes? Well I say SCREW THEM. I'm going to watch the 2012 remake of Red Dawn in which a group of North Korean terrorists get their asses kick by a bunch of teenagers and an undercover Thor (with short brown hair and sans Mjolnir).

TAKE THAT CYBER-LOSERS!

On a more serious note: I understand why the movie was pulled from movie theaters; the people who would have gone to watch the film would have been sitting ducks in case those jerks were really going to attack. On the other hand: if the same idiots decide to make threats against the Time Square dropping of the ball on New Year's Eve, is it going to get cancelled too? How about the Super Bowl? The Oscars? Any upcoming rock show?

A precedent has been set that goes way beyond the release of a shitty movie.

[jessamineny]

I think it was more likely pulled because of pressure from other movie companies. This is one of the biggest times of year for some of the biggest movies, and I'm sure they worried that too many people would be scared to come to any movies because of the threat.

[R-Dot-Yung]

This whole thing really upsets me.

I don't think there's anything else to say and I hope Sony releases the movie digitally. I would throw money at it as a form of protest against whoever the hackers are.

[DF118]

On the other hand: if the same idiots decide to make threats against the Time Square dropping of the ball on New Year's Eve, is it going to get cancelled too?

Yep. Almost certainly, immediately.

[Jinsai]

This whole thing really upsets me.

I don't think there's anything else to say and I hope Sony releases the movie digitally. I would throw money at it as a form of protest against whoever the hackers are.

Unfortunately, Sony has already said that they're not going to release it in any format ever... for the foreseeable future
The movie has basically been shelved. If you ever see it, it'll be because somebody leaked it.

[R-Dot-Yung]

Unfortunately, Sony has already said that they're not going to release it in any format ever... for the foreseeable future
The movie has basically been shelved. If you ever see it, it'll be because somebody leaked it.

That upsets me even more. I find this entire situation depressing, I want to do something about it.

[slave2thewage]

Slight drift, but movie theatres are open in the US on the 25th? That seems... slightly odd.

[jessamineny]

Yes, and they're busy. I think people can spend time with their families... without spending time with their families.

[slave2thewage]

Yes, and they're busy. I think people can spend time with their families... without spending time with their families.

Jesus, it must suck if you work in one and you have kids and you're picked to work on that day.

[onthewall2983]

I'm not defending the idea of businesses being open on Christmas day (or Thanksgiving for that matter), but sometimes families schedule their holiday whenever it's convenient to get everyone together, hopefully close enough to the 25th. My siblings are often way more busy than I am so there's a bit of feline herding going on when it comes to Christmas. This year fortunately we're doing it closer to it (this Saturday).