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Sony Pictures hack causes major disruption, FBI investigating

Sony's corporate email and other internal systems were knocked offline, according to reports by Variety and other trade publications.

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Fred Prouser/Reuters
An entrance gate to Sony Pictures Entertainment at the Sony Pictures lot is pictured in Culver City, California in 2013. North Korea said 'wait and see' on December 1, 2014 when asked if Pyongyang was involved in a cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment a month before its planned release of a movie about a plot to kill the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong Un.
  • By Brandon Bailey Associated Press

| SAN FRANCISCO

The FBI has confirmed it is investigating a recent hacking attack at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which caused major internal computer problems at the film studio last week.

Sony's corporate email and other internal systems were knocked offline, according to reports by Variety and other trade publications. Sony workers reportedly saw a message appear on their computer screens that said "Hacked by #GOP," which may be the initials of a group calling itself Guardians of Peace. Copies of some unreleased Sony films such as "Still Alice," ''Annie," ''Mr. Turner," and "To Write Love on Her Arms" are now being distributed on unauthorized file-sharing websites, as well as the still-in-theaters "Fury," although a direct connection to the hacking hasn't been confirmed.

Culver City, California-based Sony Pictures said in a statement Monday that it is continuing "to work through issues related to what was clearly a cyber attack last week. The company has restored a number of important services to ensure ongoing business continuity and is working closely with law enforcement officials to investigate the matter."

Along with the FBI, Sony has brought in forensic experts from the Mandiant division of FireEye, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity company, according to a source familiar with the case who did not want to be named because the companies have not yet announced the arrangement. Mandiant helps companies determine the extent of breaches and repair damages. The firm has worked on other high-profile computer breaches, including the one at Target last year.

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