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Sony Cyberattack: Sony is currently investigating allegations of a cyberattack that occurred this week. The situation has become complex as multiple hackers have emerged, each claiming responsibility for the alleged attack. The initial claim was made by a group known as RansomedVC, an extortion group that initially claimed to have breached Sony’s systems.
RansomedVC
They announced their supposed victory on their onion leak site, stating, “We have successfully [compromised] all of Sony systems. We won’t ransom them! We will sell the data. Due to Sony not wanting to pay.” RansomedVC then posted a small sample of data on their site as proof of their claims.
This data, which was observed by BleepingComputer, was relatively small, about 2 MB, and included a PowerPoint presentation, some Java source code files, Eclipse IDE screenshots, and other assets. RansomedVC further claimed that they had stolen a staggering 260 GB of data from Sony during the attack, which they were attempting to sell for a hefty $2.5 million.
MajorNelson
However, the plot thickened when a different threat actor, going by the name ‘MajorNelson,’ (not related to the well-known XBox exec) also claimed responsibility for the attack. MajorNelson refuted RansomedVC’s claims, criticizing the media for being too gullible and accusing RansomedVC of being scammers.
In contrast to RansomedVC’s small data sample, MajorNelson released a 2.4 GB compressed archive for free, which, when uncompressed, amounted to 3.14 GB of data. MajorNelson claimed this data belonged to Sony and included credentials for internal systems, files related to SonarQube and Creators Cloud, Sony’s certificates, a device emulator for generating licenses, qasop security, incident response policies, and more.
BleepingComputer noted that the archive posted by MajorNelson contained all the files present in RansomedVC’s small sample. However, the definitive attribution of the attack remains a challenge. While the data shared by the attackers does appear to belong to Sony, BleepingComputer was unable to independently verify the veracity of either threat actor’s claims. When reached for comment, a Sony Group Corporation spokesperson stated, “We are currently investigating the situation, and we have no further comment at this time.”
This isn’t the first time Sony has been in the spotlight for a cyberattack. In 2014, Sony Pictures was breached by North Korean hackers in an attempt to censure the screening of the film, The Interview.
This recent alleged attack underscores the ongoing challenges corporations face in securing their digital assets and the evolving tactics of cybercriminals. As the investigation continues, it remains to be seen who the true culprit is and what the full extent of the damage may be.
About the Author / Author Expertise
John Biggs is an entrepreneur, consultant, writer, and maker. He spent fifteen years as an editor for Gizmodo, CrunchGear, and TechCrunch and has a deep background in hardware startups, 3D printing, and blockchain. His work has appeared in Men’s Health, Wired, and the New York Times.
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