In recent months the Sony Corporation has been under scrutiny for a hacking scandal, which has proven to be a great set back. The company experienced its first hack in the series on November 24, 2014, which came as an embarrassment to the multi million-dollar establishment.  Following was a succession of other attacks, some of which released highly coveted information.  At the center of the drama is the speculation that North Koreans are responsible due to their discontent with Sony’s latest film, The Interview.  Despite this suspicion, it remains unclear whether or not the nation is responsible for lack of communication; however investigation is underway. 
The hackers are responsible for gaining access to valuable entities of Sony Entertainment, along with the financial information of many employees. Most startling is the obtaining of eminent celebrity documents via the Sony archives.  These include the passports from the stars from upcoming films, such as Angelina Jolie and Jonah Hill.  Not only is this a violation of privacy, but it also puts the Sony Cooperation in a difficult situation where they are responsible for the protection of their clients.  The hackers have taken extreme measures in their pursuit, even going so far as to threaten violence against Sony employee’s families.  Potentially racist emails directed towards the President between notable Sony employees have also been sent and leaked by the hackers.   Events such as these have only added to Sony’s attempts to quickly extinguish the issue.

Despite the shock brought by this infiltration, Sony has faced similar issues in the past.  A few years prior to this, the tech company dealt with a breach in its popular gaming system the Play Station 3.  There were issues concerning credit card information attached to gaming accounts and messages to a popular game website IGN, “included a fraudulent charge for $650 to a clothing retailer on the same card linked to the person's PSN account, and other users who found games on their account they had never opted to purchase” (IGN).  At that time they suffered a major loss, one speculated to not amount to the issues now at hand.

Controversy has spread over the idea that North Korea may be behind the attack due to Sony’s newest film, The Interview.  The film features James Franco and Seth Rogan as journalists that go under cover in a mission to assassinate the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. Granting the fact that it provides a sense of comedic relief to American audiences, the communist nation of North Korea has not taken the plot lightly.  Although heavily suspected, the North Koreans have denied being a part of this hack, yet deem that it was rightfully done.  Earlier in the summer the nation had expressed its discontent for the film’s concept at a United Nations meeting, stating that it, “was an act of terrorism” (NY Times).  In response Sony released the film for purchase on December 25, 2014 on Google Play and Amazon, along with various other online movie vendors. 

Through a fault in the hackers’ plan, recent news has proved suspicions of North Korea’s involvement in the attack to be correct.  The original hackers had created a group on Facebook where they shared malicious messages threatening the company.  These had typically been done from computers located outside of North Korea to avoid suspicion, however a recent login has revealed the root of the attacks. This has revealed that the speculation of North Korea being behind the attack is true, for the fact that the majority of the computers emails were traced back to be located in the countries.  Despite their apparent blunders, the North Koreans have continued to deny any involvement in the hack.  

Sony is just beginning its recovery, however the company has a long road ahead of themselves.  Now having a history of security breeches, the cooperation may face a decline in customers due to fear that similar situations will be reoccurring.  In the years to come, Sony will have to focus mainly on the protection of its customers and clients also. 

Works Cited
Clark, Matt. "HACKED PSN ACCOUNTS USED TO MAKE FRAUDULENT CHARGES." IGN. N.p., 6 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. .

Cieply, Michael, and Brooks Barnes. "Sony Cyberattack, First a Nuisance, Swiftly Grew Into a Firestorm." The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Dec. 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. .