SonySony Pictures has been hacked.
Five new movies are being illegally downloaded via copyright-infringing file-sharing hubs online. Four of the films are unreleased—Annie (in theaters Dec. 19), Mr. Turner (in theaters Dec. 19), Still Alice (in theaters Jan. 16, 2015) and To Write Love on Her Arms (in theaters March 2015). Fury, which debuted in the U.S. on Oct. 17, is also being passed around. "The theft of Sony Pictures Entertainment content is a criminal matter, and we are working closely with law enforcement to address it," a Sony rep tells CNBC.
The FBI refused to either confirm whether it is part of the investigation, per The Hollywood Reporter.
According to piracy tracking firm Excipio, the WWII drama Fury, starring Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf, has been downloaded by over 888,000 unique IP addresses since it first appeared on peer-to-peer networks. According to NBC News, Annie, starring Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis, has been downloaded by over 184,000 unique IP addresses. Still Alice, starring Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart, Mr. Turner, starring Timothy Spall and Dorothy Atkinson, and To Write Love on Her Arms, starring Kat Dennings and Chad Michael Murray, have been downloaded by less than 100,000 unique IP addresses since Nov. 27.
The movies were uploaded on Wednesday and Thursday. Many of the leaked copies are watermarked.
On Nov. 24, hackers calling themselves Guardians of Peace took over computers at the studio, forcing it to shut down its email and other systems. Sony has since hired FireEye Inc.'s Mandiant forensics unit to restore service, Reuters reported Sunday, with the hopes of bringing its systems back online by Monday.
Guardians of Peace threatened to release "secrets and top secrets" of Sony. There is speculation that the leaks could be related to anger over The Interview, which North Korea has publicly condemned. In the film, the CIA recruits a two-man team (James Franco and Seth Rogen) to assassinate Kim Jong-un.
It has also been suggested that China could be behind the leaks, and Sony employees are under fire, too.
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