Sony Pictures was the target of a massive hacker attack last week, resulting in the blockage of the company’s computer systems for days. The hacker group #GOP has rendered the computer system of the company useless, threatening to reveal a large hunk of data if its demands are not met. Seemingly they weren’t, which has resulted in the leakage of several Sony movies online before their DVD release. Among the titles released by the hackers online before their official release we can find titles like Fury, the World War II drama starring Brad Pitt, and the upcoming release Annie. The hackers got hold of the movies’ DVD screeners, and they have released them online through a series of popular file sharing networks, Variety reports.
Since Fury, which has topped the box office upon its release, was leaked on November 27, it has been downloaded by over 1.2 million users. The movie is not out of movie theaters yet, still it is the second most downloaded pirated movie at this time. “Annie” is also massively pirated, weeks ahead its most likely release. “Mr. Turner,” “Still Alice” and “To Write Love on Her Arms” are also among the titles that have been leaked by the hacker (or group) #GOP.
The massive hacker attack against Sony Pictures started on the 24th of November. Several of the company’s employees have reported losing their access to the company network and messages appearing on their computer screens. The hackers took over a series of Sony Pictures’ Twitter accounts associated with some of their movies, publishing messages that were directed against Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures CEO. The hackers did not reveal what kind of sensitive information they got hold of at that time. This is not the first time Sony sees its movies appear online before their official release – this year Expendables 3 has been spotted on P2P file exchange websites three weeks before its official theatrical release.