Sony Pictures Entertainment Still Struggling Eight Days After Cyber Attack

Sony Pictures Entertainment Still Struggling Eight Days After Cyber Attac

Eight days after a massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Hollywood studio is still finding it hard to restore some systems on Tuesday evening as investigators combed for evidence to identify the culprit.

Some employees at the Sony Corp (6758.T) entertainment unit were given new computers to replace ones that had been attacked with the rare data-wiping virus, which had made their machines unable to operate, according to a person with knowledge of Sony’s operations.

Sony has brought back some systems online, focusing first on those from which it generates revenues, including those involved with marketing and distributing its films and TV shows.

They are “not yet sure of the full scope of information that the attackers have or might release,” according to the memo first reported by Variety. They encouraged employees to take advantage of identity protection services being offered.

Their concern underscores the severity of the breach, which experts say is the first major attack on a U.S. company to use a highly destructive class of malicious software that is designed to make computer networks unable to operate.

Government investigators, led by the FBI, are considering multiple suspects in the attack, including North Korea, according to a U.S. national security official with knowledge of the investigation.

The FBI said on Tuesday that it was working with its counterparts in Sony’s home country of Japan in the investigation.

That comes after it warned U.S. businesses on Monday about hackers’ use of malicious software and suggested ways to defend themselves.

The warning said that some of the software used by the hackers had been compiled in Korea, but it did not discuss any possible connection to North Korea.

The hack, which was launched November 24, only affected computers with Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) Windows software, so Sony employees using Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Macs, including many in the marketing department, had not been affected, according to the person familiar with Sony’s operations, who was notmauthorized to publicly discuss the attack.

People claiming responsibility for this latest attack have posted high-quality digital copies of yet-to-be-released Sony films and what they claim are sensitive data about its operations and employees on internet download sites, making them freely available to the public in a series of releases over the past five days.

Sony’s holiday musical “Annie”, which is due to be released December 19 in the United States, was available for download on a popular piracy site on Tuesday evening.

Sony Pictures Entertainment shut down its internal computer network last week to prevent the data-wiping software from causing further damage, forcing employees to use paper and pen.

Sony was also victim of a notorious 2011 breach that compromised data of tens of millions of PlayStation Network users.