North Korea Issued A Mysterious Message About The Hack On Sony Pictures | ||
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North Korea is not denying allegations made by US officials that the country was behind a massive hack on Sony Pictures last week that took down the company's computer network. When contacted by the BBC, a North Korean government spokesman said: "Wait and see." A group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" broke into the servers of Sony Pictures, an international movie studio owned by Sony. The group took over screens inside the company, stealing files and even leaking unreleased movies online. Staff were left using pens and paper to do their jobs, unable to even attempt to log on to their computers. Here's what screens inside Sony Pictures looked like after the hack:
It's still not known exactly who the Guardians of Peace are. They claim to have a source inside Sony who had similar opinions and let them inside the computer network. But US intelligence agencies aren't buying that claim. NBC News claims to have knowledge of classified briefings that suggested North Korea was a possible source of the hack. It's not completely far-fetched as the country has been tied to hackings in the past. According to Re/code, North Korea has its own hacking army division known as Unit 121, which is widely suspected of being behind cyber attacks on South Korea and the US. North Korea also has a motive to attack Sony Pictures. The studio is set to release "The Interview" this month, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as celebrity journalists who land an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un before attempting to kill him. On June 25, North Korea's official news agency denounced the film as a "blatant act of terrorism and war." And on July 11, the country's ambassador to the UN accused the movie as being an "act of war." An official from North Korea's London embassy refused to comment on the Sony Pictures hack, telling Business Insider that they were "not interested" in talking to the press. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ, GM) | ||
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Good morning! Here are 10 of the biggest stories you should hear about before markets open in the US. Russia Is Heading Into Recession. Deputy Economy Minister Alexei Vedev has warned that Russia is likely to enter its first recession since 2009. The Economy Ministry downgraded its forecast for 2015 growth to -0.8% from +1.2%. This comes amid crashing oil prices, a tumbling ruble, and punishing economic sanctions from western trading partners. Russia Abandons A Major Pipeline Project. "Russia's $40 billion South Stream gas pipeline project has fallen victim to plunging energy prices, stalling European demand and the political standoff between the European Union and Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine," Reuters' Henning Gloystein and Dmitry Zhdannikov reported. "Russia on Monday said it had scrapped the project to supply gas to Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections, and named Turkey as its preferred partner." Eurozone Producer Prices Tumble. Crashing oil prices are manifesting in Europe's inflation data. "Eurozone factory prices sharpest monthly rate in a year in October as the cost of energy and non-durable goods such as food dropped sharply, putting pressure on the European Central Bank to do more to lift the bloc's depressed economy," Reuters' Philip Blenkinship reported. "Prices at factory gates in the 18 countries sharing the single currency declined by 0.4% from September." S&P Joined Moody's In Criticism Of Japan's Public Finances. Standard & Poor's cast doubt on Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ability to repair the country's tattered finances, a day after Moody's tarnished the government's economic record less than two weeks away from a major election. And Japanese Workers' Wages Came In Below Inflation For The 16th Month. Wages rose by only 0.5% in the year to October, well below inflation, even after stripping out the effect of April's sales tax increase. It's Merger Tuesday. "British insurer Aviva agreed terms for a 5.6 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) takeover of rival Friends Life in all share deal which creates a market leader with 16 million life insurance customers," Reuters' Huw Jones and Carolyn Cohn reported. "Aviva said the merged company is expected to generate 600 million pounds in excess cash flow a year and about 225 million pounds in annual cost savings by the end of 2017." Markets Aren't Doing Much. US futures are in the green with Dow futures up 28 points and S&P 500 futures up 2 points. Europe is mixed with Britain's FTSE 100 up 1.0%, France's CAC 40 up 0.1%, and Germany's DAX down 0.2%. Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.42%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 1.2%. Cyber Monday Was Good. Online sales on Monday jumped 8.7% year-over-year according to data from IBM Digital Analytics. Mobile sales surged 29.3%. "This trend may indicate that shoppers are becoming more comfortable and digitally savvy in how they use online coupons and rebates to secure the best bargains," according to IBM. The average transaction price was flat at $133.07. It's worth noting that analysts were forecasting 13%-15% growth in online sales, so these stats are arguably disappointing. Another GM Recall. "General Motors Co will recall 316,357 SUVs and sedans, mainly in North America, because the low-beam headlights can stop working, the company said on Monday," Reuters' Bernie Woodall reported. "Affected vehicles are the model years 2006-2009 Buick LaCrosse sedans; 2006-2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Buick Rainier SUVs; and 2006-2008 Saab 9-7X and Isuzu Ascender SUVs." Get Ready For Auto Sales... The big automakers will release their November US sales stats. Analysts estimate the pace of vehicle sales increased to an annualized rate of 16.55 million units in November, up from 16.35 million in October. "Autos haven’t typically been a focus of Black Friday, but last year the industry made a push to get in on the holiday sales frenzy to good results, and there’s an effort underway again this year to get more people into dealerships after Thanksgiving," Morgan Stanley's Ted Wieseman noted. "So we’re looking for some more upside to potentially reach 17 million for only the second time in the past eight years." Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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North Korea Issued A Mysterious Message About The Hack On Sony Pictures | ||
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North Korea is not denying allegations made by US officials that the country was behind a massive hack on Sony Pictures last week that took down the company's computer network. When contacted by the BBC, a North Korean government spokesman said: "Wait and see." A group calling itself "Guardians of Peace" broke into the servers of Sony Pictures, an international movie studio owned by Sony. The group took over screens inside the company, stealing files and even leaking unreleased movies online. Staff were left using pens and paper to do their jobs, unable to even attempt to log on to their computers. Here's what screens inside Sony Pictures looked like after the hack:
It's still not known exactly who the Guardians of Peace are. They claim to have a source inside Sony who had similar opinions and let them inside the computer network. But US intelligence agencies aren't buying that claim. NBC News claims to have knowledge of classified briefings that suggested North Korea was a possible source of the hack. It's not completely far-fetched as the country has been tied to hackings in the past. According to Re/code, North Korea has its own hacking army division known as Unit 121, which is widely suspected of being behind cyber attacks on South Korea and the US. North Korea also has a motive to attack Sony Pictures. The studio is set to release "The Interview" this month, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as celebrity journalists who land an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un before attempting to kill him. On June 25, North Korea's official news agency denounced the film as a "blatant act of terrorism and war." And on July 11, the country's ambassador to the UN accused the movie as being an "act of war." An official from North Korea's London embassy refused to comment on the Sony Pictures hack, telling Business Insider that they were "not interested" in talking to the press. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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French MPs poised to recognise Palestine | ||
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Paris (AFP) - French lawmakers were poised Tuesday to recognise Palestine as a state, following similar moves in Britain and Spain that reflect growing European frustration with the stalled Middle East peace process. The highly symbolic vote in the lower house National Assembly is not binding on French government policy but is likely to spark fury in Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned it would be a "grave mistake." The text of the motion invites Paris to recognise the state of Palestine "as an instrument to gain a definitive resolution of the conflict" and is expected to pass comfortably with the support of the ruling Socialists. Palestinians are seeking to achieve statehood in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank with east Jerusalem as the capital. With little progress on reaching a settlement, they have been lobbying foreign powers for international recognition. During a debate on the issue on Friday, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stressed that Paris would recognise Palestine if diplomatic efforts failed again and urged a resolution to the Middle East conflict within two years. France is spearheading a drive at the United Nations to unfreeze the moribund peace process and the Palestinian envoy to the UN said earlier Tuesday a draft resolution could be submitted to the Security Council by mid-December. Riyad Mansour told AFP the text was set to lay out a timeframe for negotiations on a final peace deal and possibly a deadline for Palestinian statehood. It would also pave the way for a last-ditch international conference that France has offered to host. - 'Momentum will grow' -
"If these efforts fail. If this last attempt at a negotiated settlement does not work, then France will have to do its duty and recognise the state of Palestine without delay and we are ready to do that," Fabius told MPs on Friday. The French vote comes hot on the heels of a near unanimous vote in favour of recognising Palestine in the British and Spanish parliaments, as Europeans seek alternative ways to push forward efforts towards peace. Sweden's government went even further, officially recognising Palestine as a state in a controversial move that prompted Israel to recall its ambassador. At a pan-European level, the European Parliament is expected to hold a vote later this month on recognising Palestine and EU foreign policy supremo Federica Mogherini is also pushing for the creation of a Palestine state. "Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow," said United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon last month. However, lawmakers in Paris are likely to be more divided on the issue than their British and Spanish counterparts, reflecting the sensitivity of the debate in France, which is home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities. The main centre-right opposition party, the UMP, is largely expected to vote against the motion. Senior UMP lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez told French television ahead of the vote that it would have "no impact", adding: "For me, it's the president of the Republic who defines France's foreign policy." France was the scene of several pro-Palestinian demonstrations during this summer's 50-day offensive by the Israeli army in Gaza that killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis. Some of these turned violent with looters in July destroying Jewish businesses and shouting anti-Israel obscenities in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles -- sometimes known as "Little Jerusalem" for its large community of Sephardic Jews. The Jewish Agency for Israel, an advocacy group, said in September that more Jews had left France for Israel than from any other country in 2014, blaming a "climate of anti-Semitism." The Palestinian Authority estimates that 135 countries have now recognised Palestine as a state, although that number is disputed and several recognitions by EU member states date back to the Soviet era. An AFP count puts the number of states that recognise Palestine at 112. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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