According to an FBI warning published at The Intercept, the same hackers who systematically dismantled Sony Pictures will next turn their awful but undeniably prodigious talents to the news media. No specific news organization is named. The intended target will be American; that’s all we know:
The threat against the unnamed news organization by the Guardians of Peace, the hacker group that has claimed credit for the Sony attack, “may extend to other such organizations in the near future,” according to a Joint Intelligence Bulletin of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security obtained by The Intercept.
Referring to Sony only as “USPER1”and the news organization as “USPER2,” the Joint Intelligence Bulletin, dated Dec. 24 and marked For Official Use Only, states that its purpose is “to provide information on the late-November 2014 cyber intrusion targeting USPER1 and related threats concerning the planned release of the movie, ‘The Interview.’ Additionally, these threats have extended to USPER2 —a news media organization—and may extend to other such organizations in the near future.”
Sony wasn’t just hacked, the film studio was serially embarrassed by hackers who proved they are as savvy at releasing embarrassing emails to the news media as they are at committing technological misdeeds.
Now might be a good time to strengthen the firewall and clean out the email folders.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC