It may seem
hilarious to some, but the attack on Sony has serious ramifications.
Infrastructure and
the Sony Hacking: A Digital 9/11 (Die Welt, Germany)
"Sony may
have been a practice run for attacks on telecoms and electrical grids in other
countries. The goal this time is to strike blows against South Korea and the
United States. … As long as water runs from the tap and electricity is available
from the wall, very few will understand the risks and dangers that a digital attack
on infrastructure by a hostile power represents. .. For too many, something
like this still seems like a message from the future. That future, however, is
already here."
It seems like a message from the future. Only a few years
ago, such a story would have been dismissed as far-fetched science fiction by
the very industry it is now playing out in real life.
And that's the plot: An entertainment company plans to
release a comedy with a plot that offends a totalitarian regime. Subsequently,
cyber attacks paralyze the company. Vast amounts of internal film company data
and private employee information are stolen and made public. The cyber attack
is accompanied by threats of large-scale attacks wherever the film is scheduled
to screen.
Totally intimidated, company executives cancel the world
premiere, the film is withdrawn, and the American president declares the matter
a question of national security and announces an “appropriate response.” This
could well mean a military strike against another country, and according
to U.S. government sources, the “digital footprints” point to North Korea.
This hacker attack on the Hollywood studios of Sony Pictures
and its satire The Interview - about
the murder of Dictator Kim Jong-Un by two journalists
- may have seemed droll to many, but the ramifications must be taken very
seriously. It is a realization that is only slowly sinking in among the public around
the world. Earlier in the week, jokes were all the rage in otherwise very reputable
German commentary about this.
George Clooney Stands
Alone
Now refugees from North Korea and U.S. experts alike are
pointing out that the attack on Sony may have been a practice run for attacks
on telecoms and electrical grids in other countries. The goal is to strike blows
against South Korea and the United States. The FBI has warned a number of major
American companies of further attacks.
However, the potential consequences of the Sony hacks aren’t
the only things people are trivializing. The course of events themselves and their
implications for universalized essential rights and free speech are often
hardly taken seriously. Actor George Clooney
failed in his efforts to lobby among Hollywood's elite to show solidarity with
the plundered entertainment group.
Finally, Sony Pictures may well be considered the victim of
a cyber terrorist attack by an enemy state - and on American soil. Even so,
when Clooney circulated a petition, nobody was willing to sign it, the actor
announced Friday.
In the face of an attack that can confidently be called the
9/11 of the American film industry, this reveals a shocking level of ignorance
- or cowardice. The international guild of so-called Internet activists, which usually
sounds a shrill civil rights alarm with much less provocation, is exercising
elegant restraint or even showing open malice with respect to the fate of these
looted entertainment industry giants.
Costly Damage
It may well be that incompetence and inefficiency made this massive
cyber attack possible. However, that can never justify mocking the victims of
cyber terrorism. After all, here we have an example when an enterprise's economic
survival and its freedom to publish are at stake.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
It must be the case it seems, and here, too, movie fiction
mimics real life: A danger must be concretely experienced before being taken seriously.
As long as water runs from the tap and electricity is available from the wall,
very few will understand the risks and dangers that a digital attack on infrastructure
by a hostile power represents.
In this country too, important news is too often overlooked.
All the while, the attacks are coming closer. For instance, in its annual
report last week, the Federal
Office for Information Security described cyber attacks on a German steel company
that led to costly damages to a blast furnace. Few considered the report
newsworthy. For too many, something like this still seems like a message from
the future. That future, however, is already here.
