Sony Pictures’ failure emboldens hackers
The initial reviews of the Sony Pictures film, The Interview, dub it a silly, campy comedy made for people who like smoking a particular substance. The reviews also reveal that this is a script that has being doing the rounds in Hollywood for so long that, instead of the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un being interviewed (and assassinated), it first featured Kim Jong Il, the current leader’s father.
As such, the low-budget film would have been appropriate for a boys’ night out and not really bothered the bean counters with its earnings. However, the controversial plot where the protagonists act as agents of the Central Intelligence Agency and end up assassinating the leader of another sovereign state, seems to have raised the hackles of the North Koreans.
And who can blame themIJ Even the 2012 film, The Dictator, featuring Sacha Baron Cohen as Admiral General Aladeen, the autocratic ruler of the fictional Republic of Wadiya, was ostensibly modelled on libya's Muammar Gaddafi. This, despite Gaddafi's regime tottering at the time. Months later, the libyan leader was brutally murdered by rebels and dumped in a ditch.
However, the revenge plotted by North Korea and the craven response to that, by Hollywood executives, is shameful. Hackers, who the United States claim to have come from North Korea, hacked into Sony Pictures’ computers and have been leaking everything, from email exchanges between film industry executives to the plots of upcoming films such as the next one in the James Bond franchise.
While the hack highlighted the incredibly callous way in which Sony Pictures protects its data, the master password file was reportedly titled just ‘Password', an odd irony considering that Sony Corporation is a global leader in technology products, it also highlighted how quickly some people would roll over backwards.
Hackers are a reality of the modern age, and while sometimes, like in the case of Edward Snowden and the leaked CIA files, there is an element of public interest involved, the Sony Pictures hack was nothing but a criminal act. By caving in to the demands of the hackers and withdrawing the film, Sony Pictures has emboldened hackers across the world. Films, like all other forms of popular culture, are meant to offend and criticise.
The fact is that North Korea remains the world's last totalitarian state, and one that exports missile technology to countries such as Pakistan and also potentially has nuclear weapons. The film might have shown the country in a slightly negative light. However, as Kazakhstan learned from the film, Borat, even negative publicity can be beneficial.
This incident also highlights how future conflicts and wars may not ever be fought in the physical world. If indeed, as the American law enforcement has claimed, this attack was undertaken by North Korea, the small country has given the United States a bloody nose. The Indian security establishment ought to draw lessons from this.