Lesson 2: Offense is risky

- [Instructor] The second lesson that we can draw…from the Sony Pictures attack…is that going on the offense can be very risky.…Shortly after the Sony breach,…the attackers began posting full copies…of unreleased Sony films on the internet.…This move clearly threatened the company's profits…as executives felt that people who were able to download…the film online were less likely to see it…in the theater or rent a legitimate copy.…Media reports alleged that Sony responded to this threat…by launching a cyber attack of their own.…

The reports claim that Sony used hundreds of computers…in Asia to target sites that were hosting…the unauthorized files.…These reports also alleged that Sony…was leasing these computers from Amazon Web Services…to allow them to quickly scale the attack.…Amazon Web Services quickly issued a qualified denial.…Instead of emphatically stating that their services…were not used in the attack,…they said that the activity was, quote,…not currently happening, unquote, on the service.…

They went on to explain that they have automated systems…