EMAIL TRAIL: Adele's among the Sony Music artists targeted [CAMERA PRESS/MIKE NELSON]
The Brits are among a host of big-name acts whose info was stolen by the same team thought to have targeted Sony’s Hollywood film studios.
David Bowie, 67, right, Rita Ora, 24, Beyoncé, 33, Celine Dion, 46, Bruce Springsteen, 65, and the cast of TV’s Glee are all thought to have been targeted.
They are all signed to major record labels which are owned by Sony Music including Columbia, RCA and Epic.
The company is one of the most profitable arms of global giant Sony Corp, which was targeted after it tried to release controversial film The Interview.
SHOWN: The Interview was given a limited release [CAPITAL PICTURES] Details of stars’ contracts, demands and business deals are believed to be among information stolen by the hackers, traced to North Korea’s capital Pyongyang by the FBI. LA-based media analyst Mike Raia said last night: “The potential embarrassment and turmoil would be as devastating as that which has crippled Sony’s movie-making arm and effectively killed the general release of The Interview.”“Music files intended for release at a later date could be released on the net where fans would download them for free”Mike Raia, media analyst
The comedy film, starring Seth Rogen, 32, and James Franco, 36, on a spoof mission to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, 31, was shown in a handful of U.S. cinemas over Christmas.
A vow by Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton to release The Interview on the internet is thought to have fuelled the latest cyber attacks.
Last week it was revealed that Sony Music files dating back at least ten years are among the 100 terabytes of information stolen from company servers.
By comparison, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has collected less than half that – 45 terabytes – since its launch in 1990.
Raia reckons the hackers, who dubbed themselves Guardians of Peace, could now wreak further havoc with the mountain of data plundered from Sony.
“We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
“It could end up as a financial disaster so enormous that the company, at least in its present form, might not even survive.”
Digital expert Jeffrey Cole from the University of Southern California also warned: “Major upheaval will occur at Sony. There are going to be repercussions.
“They’ll lose momentum and this will be a big hit to Sony’s earnings. It could take two years to recover.”
Meanwhile, a senior executive at Sony Music claimed fellow bosses were “in complete panic” over the hack attack, adding: “We don’t even know the extent of exactly what they have. We know it’s a lot.
“There are skeletons in everyone’s cupboard, only nobody ever expects a bunch of robbers to smash down the door and steal everything inside.”
Spokesmen for 1D and other acts on Sony Music-owned labels have refused to comment.
● GAMERS were back online yesterday after a cyber attack left Sony PlayStation owners unable to access online services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day
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