The well-publicized hacking of Sony caught the eye of just about every nation-state, terrorist organizations, activist group and criminal organization around the world. The media made the Sony incident a major media event with plenty of coverage that probably satisfied the vast majority of inquisitive minds, industry leaders, regulators and government leaders.
Referred to as the most serious cyber attack in history, the Sony incident will cost the company an estimated $100 million. It will take months to have a real feel for the financial damage resulting from this cyber attack.
The FBI has attributed this incident to North Korea, saying it was carried out to protest a movie. (The Interview, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, which comedically concerns an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.)
Some refer to this incident as the mouse (North Korea) that roared. It demonstrated just how code that had been written and parts that were used previously could be repackaged, modified and released into their adversary's environment and result in significant damage. Knowledgeable sources have termed the attack on Sony an "unparalleled and well-planned crime."
This event clearly showed the potential this type of attack has and how much power a substantially smaller entity (country, group or maybe even an individual) that develops and uses cyber weapons can wield when they use them. In response the U.S. imposed sanctions against North Korea, some believe that hackers took matters into their own hands and took down North Korea's entire Internet. Most anticipate that North Korea will make the next move.
These are complex issues and there is little information from similar events to assist decision makers. There is a growing feeling that the success of this cyber attack, the massive media attention the attack received, and a meek retaliation by the U.S. will embolden others to launch similar attacks. There is little doubt that this is a threshold-level incident and as such has forever changed the cyber conflict landscape. That is something everyone has to deal with now!
