Sony cyber attack: Seth Rogen and James Franco, stars of North Korea film The Interview, have salaries leaked by hackers
The feature-length film currently being screened in the US tells the story of two journalists who are enlisted by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-Un
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Your support makes all the difference.Seth Rogen and James Franco, the comedy duo behind Kim Jong-Un spoof movie The Interview, have been targeted by hackers thought to have links in North Korea.
Leaked documents appear to detail the personal salaries of the two actors for their role in the Sony Pictures film, Bloomberg reports.
The feature-length tells the story of two journalists who score a dream interview with the dictator of the secret state.
They are then hired by the CIA in an assassination plot to kill him.
In June, North Korea denounced news of the film as “a wanton act of terror” that would inflict “merciless countermeasures“ on the US unless it was banned.
Letters were issued from Pyongyang to film producers in Hollywood, the White House and the UN over the film.
After failing to secure their means, it has been claimed that controversial leader, with one of the worst human rights records in the world, has attempted to exact some sort of revenge.
However, experts have since claimed that the attacks were unlikely to stem from the country.
Alongside Rogen and Franco’s pay, the hackers also detailed expenses related to the film, the credit card details if the head of Sony Pictures Michael Lynton, and a number of scripts thought to be for forthcoming TV programmes.
The online thieves further uploaded a number of Sony films to file-sharing websites online – including Brad Pitt’s new Second World War drama Fury and the Jamie Foxx remake of Annie, which isn’t due out until the end of the year.
Sony, which is based in California, has since enlisted the help of the FBI to investigate the cyber attack on its systems.
The company has also called on forensic experts at web security firm FireEye Inc.
Reports initially suggested that a number of malicious codes have been identified that are similar to those that were used to access secure South Korean media companies and banks in March 2013.
A number of other US businesses, including the world’s largest casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp and Home Depot, a DIY chain, were also targeted.
Rogen is, however, yet to be deterred by the aggression afforded by the film, if any of the tweets of him enjoying a series of screenings for The Interview around the US are anything to go by:
“Any time a movie causes a country to threaten nuclear retaliation, the higher-ups wanna get in a room with you,” Rogen told Rolling Stone magazine.
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