North Korea Blames U.S. for Internet Shutdown
North Korea suffers another Internet shutdown
North Korea blames U.S. for Internet outages, calls Obama ‘monkey’
December 27, 2014
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Obama says hacks show need for cybersecurity law
January 13, 2015
Washington (AFP) – President Barack Obama said Tuesday the cyber attacks against Sony and the Pentagon’s Central Command highlight the need for toughened laws on cybersecurity.
Obama made the comment as the White House unveiled a proposal to revive cybersecurity legislation stalled over the past few years.
“With the Sony attack that took place, with the Twitter account that was hacked by Islamist jihadist sympathizers yesterday, it just goes to show how much more work we need to do — both public and private sector — to strengthen our cybersecurity,” the president said at a meeting with congressional leaders.
Obama said he had spoken to the Republican leaders of the House and Senate and “I think we agreed that this is an area where we can work hard together, get some legislation done and make sure that we are much more effective in protecting the American people from these kinds of cyberattacks.”
The proposal unveiled Tuesday would allow increased sharing of information on cyber threats from the private sector with protection from liability. The measure also would criminalize the sale of stolen financial data, and require companies to notify consumers about data breaches.
A White House statement said the updated proposal “promotes better cybersecurity information sharing between the private sector and government, and it enhances collaboration and information sharing amongst the private sector.”
The plan also “would allow for the prosecution of the sale of botnets, would criminalize the overseas sale of stolen US financial information like credit card and bank account numbers, would expand federal law enforcement authority to deter the sale of spyware used to stalk or commit ID theft, and would give courts the authority to shut down botnets engaged in distributed denial of service attacks and other criminal activity,” the statement said.
The proposal would shield companies from liability if they share information about cyber threats with the Department of Homeland Security, which has been setting up special units for threat analysis and sharing.
Obama was expected to make comments on the initiative later Tuesday at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.
Obama has pressed for cybersecurity legislation to allow the private sector to share data on threats without fear of liability for any adverse consequences from the disclosures.
Earlier efforts on cybersecurity legislation have stalled amid opposition from civil libertarians who feared it could allow too much government snooping and conservatives who argued it would create a new bureaucracy.
However, concerns have been heightened by the hacking of Sony Pictures and massive data breaches affecting retailers including Target and Home Depot.
On Monday, the US Central Command suspended its Twitter page after a group declaring sympathy for Islamic State jihadists hacked its social media accounts and posted internal documents.
Sony under fire for canceling ‘The Interview’
December 19, 2014
by Sam Rolley
What do President Barack Obama, former Gov. Mitt Romney, actor George Clooney, CNN host Fareed Zakaria, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, longtime conservative pundit Charles Krauthammer and Fox News senior producer Justin Craig have in common? They belong to a growing group of critics who say Sony Pictures made the wrong decision to cave to the demands of hackers working on behalf of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and cancel the release of â??The Interview.â?
Sony released the following statement this week announcing that it would not release â??The Interview,â? a comedy in which characters played by actors James Franco and Seth Rogan assassinate North Korea’s dictator:
In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release. We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest in the safety of employees and theater-goers.
Sony Pictures has been the victim of an unprecedented criminal assault against our employees, our customers, and our business. Those who attacked us stole our intellectual property, private emails, and sensitive and proprietary material, and sought to destroy our spirit and our morale â?” all apparently to thwart the release of a movie they did not like. We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public. We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.
That decision has led to considerable criticism from people with all manner of backgrounds.
Here’s what’s being said:
President Barack Obama promises the U.S. will respond
â??We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States,â? Obama said. â??Because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don’t like or news reports that they don’t likeâ?¦â?
â??That’s not who we are,â? he added. â??That’s not what America is about.â?
The president also said that the U.S. will respond to the North Korean actions â??proportionallyâ? and â??at a place and time that we choose.â?
Former Gov. Mitt Romney urges Sony to release movie online
.@SonyPictures don’t cave, fight: release @TheInterview free online globally. Ask viewers for voluntary $5 contribution to fight #Ebola.
â?” Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) December 18, 2014
Actor George Clooney gives Kim Jong Un the finger
Excerpts from an interview with Deadline Hollywood:
“With the First Amendment, you’re never protecting Jefferson; it’s usually protecting some guy who’s burning a flag or doing something stupid. This is a silly comedy, but the truth is, what it now says about us is a whole lot. We have a responsibility to stand up against this. That’s not just Sony, but all of us, including my good friends in the press who have the responsibility to be asking themselves: What was important? What was the important story to be covering here? The hacking is terrible because of the damage they did to all those people. Their medical records, that is a horrible thing, their Social Security numbers. Then, to turn around and threaten to blow people up and kill people, and just by that threat alone we change what we do for a living, that’s the actual definition of terrorism.”
His solution:
“Stick it online. Do whatever you can to get this movie out. Not because everybody has to see the movie, but because I’m not going to be told we can’t see the movie. That’s the most important part. We cannot be told we can’t see something by Kim Jong-un, of all f*cking people.”
CNN host Fareed Zakaria says the U.S. must respond
Via a Washington Post opinion piece:
â??The U.S. government has to find a way to respond to this act of aggression on American territory. If not, North Korea will have gotten away with its worst cyberattack to date, as well as the most brazen threat of terrorism in recent times. In its triumph, it will be emboldened. And surely groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State will note that the way to scare countries into submission is to threaten these very kinds of attacks. At that point, the story about the e-mails and Angelina Jolie and movie executives’ salaries will be about much more than a Hollywood comedy.â?
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg: Police states can’t meddle in free societies
Remarks Clegg made on a phone in show transcribed by theTelegraph:
It is just extraordinary that in a free society, we are allowing these online thugs from a police state to intimidate people having a bit of fun at the expense of North Korea.
We should not allow this appalling police state in North Korea, who obviously have no sense of humour either because this is a comedy film about what happens to the North Korean leader, we cannot allow them to basically intimidate cinema chains and stop people enjoying what is by the sound of it a Christmas comedy film.
I really do think Sony have got quite a heavy responsibility. Of course they [also] have a responsibility to make sure people are kept safe. But there is a big principle here.
We cannot have a police state basically through hacking and intimidation stopping free societies like ours having films on in cinemas that we want to see.
Pundit Charles Krauthammer says screw Pyongyang
On “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Krauthammer suggested that Sony should release the movie for free online.
“It’s a gesture, but also it doubly screws over Pyongyang,” he said.
“The world would see it in far larger numbers than it ever would if it were a paying proposition in the theaters,” said Krauthammer. â??I think it would have been punishment for the North Korea regime.”
Fox News senior producer Justin Craig: It’s a dark day for America if movie goes unreleased
Via a Fox opinion piece:
“It’s a dark day for America when we cave over a simple, silly Seth Rogen comedy. It’s embarrassing. It’s humiliating. It’s exactly what these hackers wanted, and it creates an open season for anarchists.”
