Sony lawyer warns news outlets not to report on 'stolen data'

One of the pay-TV industry's linchpin programmers, Sony Pictures, rendered its most aggressive response yet to an unprecedented three-week-old network hacking crisis.

David Bois, a prominent lawyer hired by Sony to help it deal with the fallout of the ongoing attack, sent a sharply worded letter to major news outlets including The New York Times, warning them not to report on "stolen information" fed to them by the hackers.

Sony, Bois wrote in a letter sent out wide Sunday morning, "does not consent to your possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading or making any use" of the information."

The letter comes 20 days after attackers first infiltrated Sony's networks and began downloading sensitive information. A series of leaks to media last week revealed damaging emails sent between top Sony executive Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, missives that threaten to undermine the executive's ability to further lead the company.

The attackers--who are widely believed to have ties to the North Korean government--have threatened another info dump to media if the Sony film The Interview is released as planned on Christmas Day. That comedy, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, is about two bumbling TV reporters assigned by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un.

Re/code, meanwhile, reports that Sony had PricewaterhouseCoopers conduct an audit of its IT systems over the summer, an audit which did find security holes.

For more:
- read this New York Times story
- read this Re/code story

Related links:
More Sony hacking leaks: Conglom mulled sale of majority stake in Crackle
Sony buys exclusive rights to NBCU movies for Crackle
Sony launches its $80-a-month OTT pay-TV service, without ESPN
Berger: Sony drawing 'cord nevers' to Crackle