Hackers involved in the attack of Sony Pictures, calling themselves the Guardians of Peace or #GOP, have struck yet again, this time releasing the aliases of a number of high-profile stars, including Tom Hanks and Jessica Alba.
Previously the hackers released five unreleased movies as well as the Social Security numbers of over 47,000 past and present Sony employees.
Current speculation is that the attack was conducted by hackers under direction from North Korea, some suggesting that it is in relation to an upcoming movie starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, The Interview.
In the movie, the two star as journalists who are asked to interview North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Meanwhile, the CIA asks the pair to assassinate the dictator.
The suggestion the hack was conducted by North Korea isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. North Korea has publicly condemned the movie on multiple occasions, threatening that if it was released there would be consequences. Not only that, but the hackers have demanded that an unnamed "terrorism" movie be removed from the Sony lineup.
"We have already given our clear demand to the management team of Sony, however, they have refused to accept. Stop immediately showing the movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the War," said an email from the hackers.
Most recently, data has been leaked showing the aliases of a number of Hollywood stars, including Jessica Alba, who reportedly goes under the name "Cash Money," and Tom Hanks, whose aliases include "Harry Lauder" and "Johnny Madrid."
Despite the speculation, North Korea has denied being involved in the hack, but it has referred to the hack as "righteous." While the "movie of terrorism" does go unnamed, it is not clear what other movie it could refer to.
Cyberattacks such as these have become increasingly common, however most of them are quietly dealt with and never become public. Despite this, some hacks have gone on to be more problematic. In June a company called Code Space went bankrupt after refusing to meet a hacker's demands. The hacker then deleted a number of strategic files from the company's servers.
The FBI has not attributed the attack to any group, but it has released a statement to U.S. companies suggesting they could also be targeted by the hackers.
"I'm still surprised how much talk is around the attribution of cyberattack and shock-and-awe nature of it, and how little is said about apparent security lapses at Sony that led to it," said Igor Baikalov, chief scientist at security firm Securinox. "Nation-state, hacktivist group, or disgruntled insider -- does it really matter that much when your network is" taken over and "intellectual property and confidential data are like Christmas decorations all over the Internet?"
