In light of the news that Sony’s CEO Kazuo Hirai has stated he doesn’t expect there to be any major financial impact on the entertainment company after the recent cyber attack, Russ Spitler, VP of product strategy from AlienVault, has given the following comment:
“With the breadth and diversity of data taken from Sony, the full impact of this breach will likely not be realized for some time to come. In near-term accounting it is easy to evaluate the impact on box office sales for a movie, but the data that is now public has far reaching implications. Every single agent in Hollywood has a complete track record of Sony’s behaviour during negotiations; next time Sony wants to sign an A-list actor to a film I am sure the costs will start adding up. The next time Sony looks to lease studio space or negotiate for an onsite shoot, they are back on their heels. People often look to the most easily measurable consequence of a breach such as this, but the long term implications of this will be hard to calculate for a long time to come."