A terrorism expert at Georgia State University said in the decision-making process to pull “The Interview” from its planned Christmas Day release, Sony Pictures, recently subject to a massive cyber attack, had a choice where things could go horribly either way.
Anthony Lemieux, the lead researcher in Georgia State’s Trans-Cultural Conflict and Violence project, is available to discuss cyber terrorism, the hacking attack against Sony Pictures that damaged the company, and how the decision not to release “The Interview” could actually encourage cyber criminals.
The professor’s direct contact information is available above in the contact box for logged-in, registered Newswise reporters and writers.
“The threats against Sony and moviegoers related to the recent hacks clearly bring this into the realm of cyber terrorism,” he explained. “ The threat of violence that is designed to change a policy or impact behavior, which is a defining hallmark of terrorism, was clearly evidenced here.”
A threat to theaters and moviegoers resulting from the Christmas Day release of The Interview resulted in many theaters deciding not to show the movie, and Sony Pictures later scuttling the release entirely.
“This also represents a case of a lose-lose situation in that first, by pulling the release, Sony has given in to these threats and has made this case of cyber terrorism a 'success' from the vantage point of the attackers,” Lemieux continued. “Second, had Sony Pictures gone through with the release and there were attacks, they would have been accused of putting profits first, disregarding clear and present danger, and the like.”
Lemieux is additionally a researcher with the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland, and is also an adjunct associate professor with the School of Medicine and Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta.
For more information about Lemieux, visit http://lemieux.socialpsychology.org/ or http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwdcm/13942.html.
RSS