Just three days before cyber-attackers crippled Sony Pictures, the hackers sent an e-mail to executives Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal that said they would do great damage to the company if they weren’t paid off.
The note, discovered by Mashable, was simple and straightforward, though sketchy on the payment details:
We've got great damage by Sony Pictures.
The compensation for it, monetary compensation we want.
Pay the damage, or Sony Pictures will be bombarded as a whole.
You know us very well. We never wait long.
You'd better behave wisely.
The e-mail has been largely forgotten amid the blur of Sony-related cyber-attack coverage, including stories about backstabbing e-mails and North Korea’s purported role in the hack over the film “The Interview.” But security experts say it’s not unusual for companies to receive e-mails from hackers who threaten to hold data hostage, or destroy it altogether, if payment isn’t made. In some cases, the attackers do hold systems for ransom and they do get paid.
“Recently we have seen an uprising in ‘cryptolockers’ and [malware that] is referred to as ‘ransomware,’ which allow the criminal to hold assets hostage in exchange for things not attached to the Internet, like the ability to block the release of a movie or even hostage exchange,” says Ryan Wager, director of product management at the security company vArmour.