Sony Hack as US false flag that justifies cyberwar: NK now a live target

Suppose:

The hack of Sony studios was actually perpetrated by US intelligence, and not the North Koreans...


Sony benefits:
1. It gets to do an internal purge of senior staff, firing them for the embarrassing emails.
2. It gets publicity and free marketing for a poor film that would otherwise sink out of sight after its first weekend
3. It introduces "direct to consumer streaming", a new sales model which lets them circumvent the theater system entirely


The US government benefits:
1. It has Cassus Belli--cause for war--- against North Korea, which purportedly attacked American interests at home.
2. It gets real-world practice at hacking an enemy state and conducting cyber war in retaliation
3. The movie is supposed to help gin up support for .... (wait for it).... regime change, in North Korea
4. The movie was produced at the Government's behest, so it could be distributed "behind the lines" in the DPRK, and inspire a coup.


.

a reply to: tovenar

I think this sneaky thought has crossed a few minds here at ATS and elsewhere.....to my way of thinking well just have to wait until this whole scenario plays out further.....that's the way its planned....we wait until its too far advanced to do anything about it....

anon released this list of the so called lizardsquad.

http://p a s t e b i n.com/am6QukfZ (remove spaces)

not really North korean super hackers.

Wouldn't be the first time the U.S. Government and Sony has conspired....

White House / Sony Conspiracy ? What !!

Nobody knew about any emails until the hack. Not only is Sony going to lose money on a film it was going to make a nice profit on but, it has spent millions trying to fix security flaws and now is going to have problems making movies because everybody knows what everybody was getting paid and agents are already taking it to them. So not only is Sony going to lose about 100 million when all is said and done, it might be put completely out of the movie buisiness.

As for the US, North Korea does something to provoke the US at least once a month. The US could use any of those as an excuse for hitting NKs with a cyber attack.

Also the movie was not made at the governments behalf and in no way could encourage regime change even if it some how got into to North Korea.

originally posted by: yeahsurexxx
anon released this list of the so called lizardsquad.

http://p a s t e b i n.com/am6QukfZ (remove spaces)

not really North korean super hackers.

Well, they are the ones who supposedly ddos'd the playstation network recently.

I don't think they are the ones who claimed to have hacked the company. It is one thing to ddos a service, another entirely to hack into it.

Yelling out of your window is different to listening carefully..

What a silly notion, I know it was aliens anyway, who set it all up 5 million years ago, just to see what we'd do. And this is ATS you lot, so i can say what I like and it better not be mocked.

a reply to: tovenar

interesting scenario....lets just see how it plays out....

Nth Korea have always been on the hit list ...this may well have been a move into check,and only a few moves away from checkmate

Well...lets see:

Sony

1: As a private company they could purge upper management anytime they wanted, they don't need a reason

2: They have a finely tuned publicity machine already capable of reaching the immature masses this film was geared for which released for Christmas weekend would have made more than enough to pay for it simply because everyone goes to stupid movies over the holidays.

3: The last thing Sony wants is direct to consumer "streaming" which was no secret before this as they lose millions because of piracy and leaves bad blood with the theater partners they depend on the rest of the year and destroys the DVD market which is where most films break even from with those sales.

United States:

1: The war has never ended between the two Korea's and the US involvement...only a truce so no cassus bell needed....all they need to do is count one of the many incidents a year that North Korea pulls as a violation and pounce...not in the US interest to do so and would really gain little as the little dividing line there allows for billions of dollars each year in the defense budget...US and THEM...thats what is important...if its just US then the money dries up.

2: They have practice everyday not only hacking but defendiing against attacks....see below

securityaffairs.co...

www.au.af.mil...

DOD systems are attcked a minimum conservative estimate more than 250 thousand times a year so they do not need practice attacking nor defending...they are quite the experts which the recent STUXNET incident in Iran showed.

3: I don't think anyone needs to gin support for regime change in North Korea as the dictators are universally hated by most all superpowers to include China and Russia...so nope

4: Distributed behind the lines ? Are you serious ? Very few people in North Korea have food to eat much less money or the special invitation it would take to even get close to a theater there...they sure as heck do not have access to the internet...many would not even know what a computer is...to watch a movies about their beloved leader being killed...its the last movie they would ever allow. This man had his Uncles eaten by dogs while alive in order to maintain total control...I can only imagine how he would react to a peasant attending this movie. Again the US benefits more from the current stalemate more than ever having a change so nope.

Just don't see it and reaching as far as this isn't going to make it so so maybe...just maybe it is NK actually behind it...then maybe its Universal Studios behind attempting to steal Sony Pictures for a song...I mean that makes more sense than the reasons you provided...sorry bout it

Follow the money. – And forget the dollar.

North Korea has been blocked out of banking system for so long a time that it has had to lean on real money, i.e. GOLD. During the years it has accumulated a gold reserve. ALL gold reserves and all trade with gold are a real threat to U.S. money. Just think about Ukraine, Libya and countless countries before those.

The purpose of this war on North Korea is to confiscate the gold and replace it with US dollars.

I would agree but there is currently no proof. I mean think about it, would Sony really risk f'ning off so many actors who they employ, releasing films on the internet so they get no profit from them (alright that always happens) and then have 13,000 of their playstation account information screwed with a released just to get rid of some people?

Look I'm all for a conspiracy theory and like to think that I've personally experienced one, (Maybe I will put it up in a rant or something) but I just think that throwing everything into that bag is a mistake. We need more proof, not just the benefits, show me the proof and I will back you all the way.

Maybe that should be a new rule on ATS, you cant just make claims without having at least one piece of evidence or a source material, then again that would stop a lot of the posts on here.

This is probably a brilliant ploy by Sony itself. They know there's problems with their PS4 and get the time to fix. The bonus is that their movie makes 10X more than it is worth. Lizard Squad my ass Sony probably knew they messed up blaming North Korea. It's free publicity in a dog eat dog world and played the players of their game console.

Hey, I'm reaching but I bet there a couple more perks to the story, for Sony and TPTB. Damn, I'm a full fledged conspiracy theorist now!

originally posted by: DJMSN
Well...lets see:

Sony

1: As a private company they could purge upper management anytime they wanted, they don't need a reason

2: They have a finely tuned publicity machine already capable of reaching the immature masses this film was geared for which released for Christmas weekend would have made more than enough to pay for it simply because everyone goes to stupid movies over the holidays.

3: The last thing Sony wants is direct to consumer "streaming" which was no secret before this as they lose millions because of piracy and leaves bad blood with the theater partners they depend on the rest of the year and destroys the DVD market which is where most films break even from with those sales.

United States:

1: The war has never ended between the two Korea's and the US involvement...only a truce so no cassus bell needed....all they need to do is count one of the many incidents a year that North Korea pulls as a violation and pounce...not in the US interest to do so and would really gain little as the little dividing line there allows for billions of dollars each year in the defense budget...US and THEM...thats what is important...if its just US then the money dries up.

2: They have practice everyday not only hacking but defendiing against attacks....see below

securityaffairs.co...

www.au.af.mil...

DOD systems are attcked a minimum conservative estimate more than 250 thousand times a year so they do not need practice attacking nor defending...they are quite the experts which the recent STUXNET incident in Iran showed.

3: I don't think anyone needs to gin support for regime change in North Korea as the dictators are universally hated by most all superpowers to include China and Russia...so nope

4: Distributed behind the lines ? Are you serious ? Very few people in North Korea have food to eat much less money or the special invitation it would take to even get close to a theater there...they sure as heck do not have access to the internet...many would not even know what a computer is...to watch a movies about their beloved leader being killed...its the last movie they would ever allow. This man had his Uncles eaten by dogs while alive in order to maintain total control...I can only imagine how he would react to a peasant attending this movie. Again the US benefits more from the current stalemate more than ever having a change so nope.

Just don't see it and reaching as far as this isn't going to make it so so maybe...just maybe it is NK actually behind it...then maybe its Universal Studios behind attempting to steal Sony Pictures for a song...I mean that makes more sense than the reasons you provided...sorry bout it

A private company still must follow labour laws. In other words you cannot fire someone without cause, especially someone with money who can afford a lawyer.

That story about Un's uncle being fed to dogs originated from a tabloid. There is no credible source for that.

have you been to NK? No food and no computers....

And the bad blood with the theaters is due to the price of getting a copy of a film to show in theatres dont make squat off the film. The only money a theatre makes is from over priced and extremely unhealthy concession products. A new model is desperately needed, this one is on it's deathbed.

a reply to: MALBOSIA


I have to interject here. yes a private comnpany CAN FIRE YOU FOR NO REAL REASON. I live in a RIGHT TO WORK STATE. We get fired all the time for no explanations and cannot even sue for it. All they have to do is have some BS reason if you even try to sue and its automatically thrown out. You can get fired for being too sexy. you can be fired for doing your job. you can even be fired for being where you are suppossed to be.

a reply to: MALBOSIA

And you would be wrong on several points so allow me to show you....

As long as a firing does not violate federal law in regards to discrimination based on race...gender or religion you are considered an "at will" employee and can be terminated at any time. Since no reason has to be given for termination one could conclude that you could be fired for any of those reasons as long as it was not clearly stated.

employment-law.freeadvice.com...

Correct that the Uncle being feed to dogs is likely a stretch but testimony provided from many of NK prison camp survivors is well documented and accepted as accurate and you may read of many such accounts from below...

www.cnn.com...

As for starvation inside NK...it is a fact as you can read from the many links I provide below from a variety of sources. The NK government itself is begging for food annually so I do not believe this to be a disputed fact except in the world you live in. The annual "high" estimate of the median income is $1800 annually so I feel that computers are the last thing families would be looking to purchase and there is that pesky problem of electricity and the ability to even assemble computers since most of the world does not sell them to NK.

North Korea is so paranoid about its citizens accessing the internet that merely owning a computer requires permission from local government authorities, and all personal computers are registered with the police, as if they were shotguns. Private ownership of fax machines is banned outright, and sending a single fax requires high-level authorization.

I doubt permission is granted to most and that would be if they could even afford them and have electricity to operate them. No I have no desire to go to NK however many have...my favorite quote about NK and the internet is here.

No North Korean people have access to the internet because the government is concerned that people would see things that would make them feel unfairly critical toward the West, and the government would like to protect the West’s reputation by preventing the people from going on the internet.

Please visit this mans blog for more information on the tourist atmosphere you will find to include beautiful and decadent buildings but no running water nor electricity. It is a list of 20 things he learned while there.

waitbutwhy.com...

Here is a fascinating account of a NK prison camp...NK has a "multi-generation sentencing policy"...literally means that you if sentenced to prison will also see your children imprisoned as well as their children....a family together stays together I guess.

www.amazon.com...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391693546&sr=8-1&keywords=escape+from+prison+14

As for the bad blood with theaters...I said that streaming would create bad blood between Sony and theaters as how would theaters exist...facts are they would not if not for the movies which yes they make little from but they certainly do not make money from selling candy and popcorn to people at home watching movies on stream.

Nothing surprises me in this world and would not be surprised to see someone other than NK responsible for the hack, but since little would be gained from the US hacking Sony I highly doubt it. Certainly for NONE of the reasons the thread creator provided.

www.theguardian.com...

www.hrw.org...

www.nytimes.com...

www.dailymail.co.uk... -rogue-state.html

Terminating senior management is difficult because it is affected by the corporate governing board. The board members are the heavyweight share holders of company stock. Most boards have proportionate voting, based on the percentage of stock each member controls.

To become president of a major entertainment company, you first have to get hired by the board. You do that by neutralizing the votes against you, clearing out the current senior management, etc.

Disney and Walmart are two examples of corporate politics using smear and and embarrassing news to oust leadership in a "corporate coup."

Certainly, there are now (or soon will be) vacancies at Sony. Believing such "accidents" happen by accident, when there are billions of dollars on the line, requires more faith than I have.

Executives who had the board's support may now lose that support if they are widely seen as racist. Maybe if you wanted the job but didn't have the shareholders' support, you do now.

As far as the actors are concerned, the studios have zero loyalty to any actors nowadays; more to directors than anyone else in production.

Even if you believe that there was absolutely ZERO conspiracy involved in the story so far, you have to admit that these events will be exploited to the fullest extent by the various players jockeying for control of a major corporation, and who are willing to end other people's careers to get it done.

I find it odd that this movie, which had such a negative effect (to hear conspiracy deniers tell it), was specifically screened by the state department (read CIA). Do all movies have to be green-lit? Or just this one? Does State watch "Homeland" and other TV shows about our government? Apparently, the government of Pakistan is outraged by that HBO series... Interesting questions....

CHECK THIS OUT:

Sony hack was actually "laid off staff"


The FBI is now entertaining the idea that it was 'former staff' or 'laid off staff' that actually perpetrated the hack, and NOT the DPRK. Gee, and the president even weighed in on this, blaming NK.....

a reply to: tovenar

Well...its not the FBI. Its a private security company named Norse who believed that it was from an inside job. Norse also believed that if they provided the information they had with the FBI that the FBI would share what they had as far as evidence...the FBI did not and stands by their assessment that NK did the dirty deed.

The FBI says it is standing by its conclusions, but the security community says the agency has been open and receptive to help from the private sector throughout the Sony investigation.

Read more: www.politico.com...

www.politico.com...

Apparently the FBI is either attempting to save face or they do indeed have some stronger evidence than Norse who are not able to say one way or the other without conjecture

The FBI said Monday it is standing behind its assessment, adding that evidence doesn’t support any other explanations.

Read more: www.politico.com...

I believe Norse was on a fishing expedition believeing they were going to get access to the FBI's evidence but that's not what happened

the FBI was “very open and grateful for our data and assistance” but didn’t share any of its data with Norse, although that was what the company expected.

Read more: www.politico.com...

Now I am inclined toward leaning to disgruntled employees and pirate hackers but maybe just maybe there is more behind the scenes we are not privy to as far as evidence that the FBI holds...I suppose time will tell but surprising the FBI is strongly sticking to their original conclusions even with numerous security companies saying otherwise.

From the very start I thought it smelled of a CIA psyop. And I still reckon it's got nothing to do with North Korea and Kim Jong at all. My feelings are that it's a ploy to sour relations even further between the US and NK following the Hegelian principle. Maybe elements of the GOP are from NK to make it look like they're doing KJ's bidding, but IMO it would'nt surprise me if they're intel assets working as "agent provocateurs" and are being directed and funded by intelligence.