Sony Hackers Threaten Terrorist Attacks on American Soil

[jordan179]

Hackers, very obviously agents of the North Korean government, have for a while now been trying to shut down a movie, The Interview, because it depicts an assassination attempt upon the Sacred Personage of the North Korean leader, mad tyrant Kim Jong Un.  Previous attacks on Sony included interference with commerce and other cyber-crimes committed

Comments

[xiphias]

Before you get too worked up, do a quick google search on the timeline of North Korean threats. Their rate of threat-making is pretty much independent of whomever is in the White House, what the US is or is not doing, what anybody ELSE is or is not doing, whether they have had any sort of provocation, whether they have any capacity for carrying out their threats ...

Whether Obama is weak or not makes no difference. NK just does random things for no discernable reason. If NK threatens war, it's not a sign of Obama's weakness. If NK suddenly decided to capitulate and surrender to South Korea, it wouldn't be a sign of Obama's strength. Their actions are completely independent of any outside stimulus.

[superversive]

Their actions may be independent of outside stimulus. The U.S.’s reaction is not.

[jordan179]

The problem is that this threat is designed to impose internal censorship upon us, has already been backed up with action, and requires the acquisition of no technically-difficult capability by the Norks. Our own internal freedom of speech is being threatened here.

[xiphias]

The appropriate action for the United States to take here is to roll our eyes and ignore it. Anything else is giving too much credit to the NK.

[jordan179]

I disagree that China would be willing to back up North Korea in a war North Korea would start by raiding America, especially if China had reason to believe we wouldn't back down. Part of the problem with having a leader like Obama is that he has acquired an international reputation for cowardice, so China might well assume we would back down.

[banner]

The military has no say in the matter. To respond without being ordered to is mutiny, and the punishment for that is hanging.

[pogo101]

Ditto that. Or rather, I think it probably was NOT the Norks, although the English usage is similarly terrible.

[jordan179]

Who, other than the Norks, would give a ding-dong about protecting the sanctity of the Young Psycho?

[pogo101]

You're assuming that is the motive.

When a business's computers get hacked ordinarily, the typical culprit is a recently fired ex-employee.

If I were a recently fired Sony employee with at least some of the computer-systems' passwords, I might use the Norks' very real (and impossibly childish) irritation at a forthcoming Sony film as a red herring.

[robby]

I wonder how difficult it would be to sever North Korea's connection to the internet. Is it via satellite, or are there cables leading in to China?

[gremy]

I think that saying and doing things to piss off America's enemies, like making an anti-North Korea propaganda film like The Interview and giving it publicity around the world, would be just as likely to incite terrorist attacks as doing absolutely nothing, so as far as I'm concerned, both sides are wrong.

[jordan179]

Which "both sides?"

[superversive]

Clearly, the absolute dictatorship of North Korea, which determines every last detail of everything that is allowed to happen in that country.…

…and the absolute dictatorship of AmeriKKKa, which determines every last detail of everything that is allowed to happen in your country. Because the two sides are absolutely equivalent and governments are the only possible actors.

Right, kingodin?