After the cyber attack on California-based Sony Pictures Entertainment last week which led to five unreleased movies being leaked as well some of the company's internal documents, the FBI has issued a five page confidential 'flash' warning to US businesses warning them of a destructive malware. However, an FBI spokesperson refused to comment when asked by CNBC whether or not this was the same malicious software that was used by the hacking group (#GOP) to attack Sony's division.
FBI officials are reportedly actively investigating the case, as it has caused quite some damage to the Japanese company's assets. Five unreleased movies including Fury, Mr. Turner, Still Alice and Annie have been leaked online. Moreover, just yesterday, the company's internal and sensitive documents were also revealed which are now being posted around the web. If more of #GOP's (Guardians of Peace) threats are to be believed, future leaks may include usernames and passwords, access keys for servers and employees’ personal information which would be very damaging to Sony's image.
The confidential report published to US businesses' security personnel does not name the victims targeted by the malware, but it does state that the malware overrides data on hard drives of computers which can make them inoperable and shut down networks.
According to recent reports, the hacking group is possibly associated with North Korea and might also use this malware to hack other companies, hence the measures taken by the FBI. Sony has yet to publicly comment on the events of the last few days, although they have acknowledged that they are helping the FBI with their investigations into the attacks.
Source: CNBC |Images via Shutterstock, Bloomberg
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