Discussion topic 'SONY hack' for 06/01

The Interview: A guide to the cyber attack on Hollywood

A month after hackers launched an attack on Sony Pictures, the fallout initially led the Hollywood studio to cancel the release of satirical comedy The Interview, which involves a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The entertainment company later allowed a theatrical and online release of the movie at Christmas, which took $15m (£9.6m) and was downloaded more than two million times in its first few days.

The initial hack, which exposed embarrassing emails and personal details about some of the world's biggest movie stars, escalated after the supposed hackers made threats against cinemas showing the film.

It has turned into one of the most difficult and damaging episodes in recent Hollywood history. Here, we examine the complicated catalogue of events.

How did it start? 

On November 22, there were signs that Sony's computer system had been compromised when skulls appeared on employees' screens with a message threatening to expose "secrets" from data obtained in a sophisticated hack.

This initially caused crippling computer problems for workers at Sony, who were forced to work with pen and paper. "We even fired up our fax machine," one employee told the LA Times.

Sony initially said they were dealing with an "IT matter", but later acknowledged the hack to staff, calling it a "brazen attack" comprised of "malicious criminal acts".

Who is responsible? 

A unknown group calling itself #GOP - later identified as Guardians of Peace - claimed it was behind the cyber attack, prompting the FBI to launch an investigation. Their name has been attached to subsequent leaks of information.

Speculation has since mounted that North Korea may have had a hand in the attack as a form of retaliation for Sony's release of The Interview.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman called the movie an "act of terrorism" in June, promising "merciless" retaliation if it was released.

The country eventually denied involvement, but heaped praise on the hack, calling it a "righteous deed". The secretive nation's ability to wage cyber warfare is not unknown, but it has not previously used the name Guardians of Peace.

News network Bloomberg has reported that the perpetrators worked from a hotel in Thailand, while unnamed Sony executives told TMZ the hackers were helped by insiders who knew where the most embarrassing information could be found. US media quoted anonymous officials as saying that the FBI had linked North Korea to the attacks.

Why was the release of The Interview pulled?

The fallout from the hack escalated after the "Guardians of Peace" claimed they would attack cinemas showing the Sony film. They alluded to 9/11 in their message and said it was a response to the "greed of Sony Pictures".

The film's New York premiere was cancelled and cinema chains cancelled screenings, leading Sony to announce that it had "decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release".

However the decision has been greeted with incredulity by some in Hollywood.

"Wow. Everyone caved," actor Rob Lowe wrote on Twitter. "The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow."

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel tweeted that the decision by theatres to refuse to show the film was "an un-American act of cowardice that validates terrorist actions and sets a terrifying precedent."

On 23 December, Sony announced that the film would have a limited theatrical release and be made available for download.

What did the hackers steal?

Before the controversy around The Interview, reams of data considered confidential by Sony - and some of the company's prime assets - were stolen in the hack.

An early version of a script for the next James Bond movie, Spectre, was leaked but failed to halt production.

Five Sony films, including the new and unreleased version of Annie, turned up on illegal file-sharing sites and were downloaded up to a million times. Brad Pitt's Fury, which had already hit cinema screens, was also shared.

What information has been revealed?

A whole host of Sony's private company information has apparently been exposed to the public, including bosses' salaries and employees' social security information.

Strings of confidential emails between Sony workers have also been circulated and proved to be the most sensitive and embarrassing leaks.

The emails revealed that:

• Female film stars including Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence were paid less than their male co-stars.
• Sony executive Amy Pascal made jokes about black-themed movies that might be among President Obama's favourites.
• Angelina Jolie was branded a "minimally talented spoiled brat" in a private email from producer Scott Rudin.
• George Clooney lost sleep over bad reviews for The Monuments Men and emailed Pascal to say: "I've let you all down. Not my intention. I apologize. I've just lost touch… Who knew?"

Sony has contacted some media outlets asking them to exercise caution over the leaked material they report on.

How did Hollywood respond?

A-listers at the heart of the revelations have maintained a dignified silence.

But screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin wrote in the New York Times of his anger at the hack, accusing the media of aiding and abetting the cyber criminals by sifting through the leaked information and reporting the most salacious findings. He hit out at Hollywood for doing little to protect the dignity of Sony employees, whose personal data has been stolen.

James Franco and Seth Rogen, stars of The Interview, have also commented publicly on the hack, using colourful language on US "shock jock" Howard Stern's show to refer to the "stolen information", adding that its circulation is "doing exactly what these criminals want".

When Sony relented and released the film, Rogen, who also wrote and directed The Interview, said: "I'm so grateful that the movie found its way into theatres, and I'm thrilled that people actually went out and saw it." http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30512032

Discussion topic 'SONY hack II' for 06/01

US Announces New Sanctions Against North Korea Following Sony Hack

President Obama has signed an executive order authorizing new sanctions against North Korea, according to a press release from the US Treasury Department.

The sanctions are described as a response to the recent hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The hackers also threatened violence if Sony released The Interview, a comedy revolving around the attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Sony eventually released the movie in art-house theaters and and video on-demand services.)

“Today’s actions are driven by our commitment to hold North Korea accountable for its destructive and destabilizing conduct,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew in the release. “Even as the FBI continues its investigation into the cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, these steps underscore that we will employ a broad set of tools to defend U.S. businesses and citizens, and to respond to attempts to undermine our values or threaten the national security of the United States.”

The new sanctions target three North Korean agencies (including its primary intelligence agency) and 10 government officials, who will be blocked from engaging with the U.S. financial system.

The FBI has said that the North Korean government was responsible for the attack, though the country’s government has denied it. Security intelligence firm Norse Corp recently claimedthat a former Sony employee was likely involved.        http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/02/us-sanctions-north-korea/

Discussion topic for 16/12 'How important is a healthy diet?'

Shift workers 'sicker and fatter'

Higher rates of obesity and ill-health have been found in shift workers than the general population.

Health Survey for England data showed they were in worse health despite often being young.

The lead researcher told the BBC that the rise of zero-hours contracts may be increasing the numbers doing shift work and could raise "pretty serious problems" for the nation's health.

Scientists said it was "fairly clear now" that shift work was unhealthy.

The report, by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, showed 33% of men and 22% of women of working age were doing shift work.

They defined shifts as employment outside 0700-1900.

Rachel Craig, the research director for the Health Survey for England, told the BBC: "Overall, people who are doing shift work are not quite as healthy as their counterparts doing regular working hours."

The data showed 30% of shift workers were obese, compared with 24% of men and 23% of women doing normal hours.

Meanwhile, 40% of men and 45% of women on shifts had long-standing health conditions such as back-pain, diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with 36% and 39% of the rest of the population.

Younger people

Shift working is most common in the 16-24 age group with nearly half of men and a third of women having this working pattern.

The rates fell with age so that fewer than a third of men and a fifth of women were working shifts after the age of 55.

Ms Craig said that, overall, young people should be in better health: "You'd expect less ill-health and fewer long-standing conditions that reflect lifestyle like obesity, so it makes it an even stronger relationship [between shifts and poor health]."

There is mounting scientific evidence on how disrupted sleep affects the normal rhythms of the body clock and leads to a wide-range of diseases.

However, other factors that are at play include people from lower incomes, who already have higher rates of poor health, being more likely to do shifts.

On the rise

Ms Craig raised concerns that the situation was getting worse.

She told the BBC News website: "It looks as though shift working is slightly higher than in 2009 and that may be a move to more part-time and zero-hours contract working. There is evidence to suggest that may be having an influence.

"It potentially does raise pretty serious problems and throws a challenge to employers to support shift workers and come up with ways to mitigate the effect of working shifts.

"If a larger proportion of people are doing shifts it is likely to result in greater demand on healthcare systems. It is something to think seriously about."

Dr Simon Archer, a body clock scientist at the University of Surrey, said the data was fascinating.

He said teenagers and young adults were generally more "evening-type" people as their body clock runs later.

He suggested this might explain why there were more young shift workers: "The young people are coping, but they shift more to 'morningness' as they get older and they can't hack it."

He added that smoking is also more common in evening-types, also known as owls, which was reflected in the health survey data.

He told the BBC News website that shifts were bad for the body: "The body isn't designed to eat in the night. It doesn't clear fat very well and shift workers tend to want to eat high calorie foods and that translates into things not so good for you.

"Obesity is the clear link, and that also leads to type-2 diabetes.

"Shift work is becoming increasingly common and it's causing a lot of problems to a lot of people and in particular the link with cancer is becoming stronger." 

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30449818?print=true