SONY-CYBERSECURITY-COMPANY LEADERSHIP Sony hacking crisis puts company leadership in question

Record ID: 451767

  • Title: SONY-CYBERSECURITY-COMPANY LEADERSHIP Sony hacking crisis puts company leadership in question
  • Date: 19th December 2014
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF SONY PICTURES STUDIOS
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA274FEG974B6IVGG37R93IP8V0
  • Story Text: In an interview with Reuters on Friday (December 19), a leading New York based crisis control consultant said that Sony is suffering from a crisis in leadership over its decision to cancel the release of its North Korea comedy, "The Interview" following cyber threats. Mike Paul, the president of Reputation Doctor LLC, said that the decision will likely put Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal in trouble with the company's top leadership.
    "We have the hacking problems with all those emails and a lot of data, then we have the film decision which points still to the leadership of Sony Pictures Entertainment and, my prediction is her head's going to roll, that she is not going to be there long term. If you look at some of the emails, you have got to go back into the research, to look at her discussions with the head of Sony overall in Japan, they never wanted to make this movie in the first place. So then what does that say about their trust in her leadership?" Paul said.
    However, Paul also explained what Pascal could do to weather the storm, saying that she needs to demonstrate clear leadership in the days ahead.
    "She is saying I am not going anywhere. Well with all due respect, if she were my client and we were in war room right now discussing the problem I would say, Amy, that is never going to be your decision, don't react to what other people are doing, show leadership by demonstrating it yourself. Stop talking, that is what got you in trouble in the first place. Show what leadership is through action and change your behavior to make sure these things don't happen again," said Paul.
    Sony on Wednesday (December 17) dropped the comedy "The Interview," which features the assassination of North Korea's leader after hackers who breached its computers threatened a 9/11 type of attack on theaters. The $44 million movie was planned for release on December 25.
    The decision to pull the film has drawn widespread criticism, with numerous celebrities taking to social media to decry the possible damage to artistic expression. Also, on Friday (December 19), U.S. President Barack Obama said that Sony made a mistake in pulling the release of the film.
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