Edito – The Sony case [By General of the army (2S) Watin-Augouard]

The cybersecurity discussion consists of several key dates: 2007 (Estonia), 2008 (Georgia), 2009 (South Korea), 2010 (Natanz), 2011 (Elysee and Bercy), 2012 (Saudi Arabia), 2013 (Snowden case). Will 2014 end without giving us a reference? Helas, not! In the final stretch, it has been revealed the massive attack suffered by Sony, as the film The Interview was being released. The damage to Sony is considerable. Not only were several terabytes of intellectual property stolen, but the hard drives were sabotaged, all the while, 47,000 employees have been robbed of personal data and are threatened individually. President Barack Obama has described the attack as “cybervandalisme and not cyberwar.” In truth, we are halfway to a cyberwar. This cyberattack illustrates the defense-security continuum where cyber defense and the fight against cybercrime co-exist. So far the finger is being pointed at North Korea. This attack has targeted businesses with the hidden agenda to attack the United States and its freedoms defended by the First Amendment of the Constitution. We are seeing the combined effects of the software and semantic attacks. It is not terrorism, but the stage of intimidation and threat has been passed. It is too early to know all of the consequences of the event. However, there is a strong chance that this attack on Sony will be considered a turning point in the history of cybersecurity.
General of the army (2S) Watin-Augouard