If you think hackers will hurt you for streaming “The Interview” on your computer, relax.
You can now rent it on Google Play, YouTube and Microsoft Xbox for $5.99. The chances of getting hacked by streaming “The Interview” are pretty slim.
The movie is now forever tied to hackers — this is the controversial movie about killing North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un that landed Sony into this mess.
But don’t confuse yourself. It was easy to hack Sony. That doesn’t mean the movie itself is tainted with malware.
Even the hackers actually attempt an attack, you’re almost certainly safe. There are two things they might try, and neither is likely to work.
1. Block the movie. Hackers might try to block others from watching it by flooding Google or Microsoft with Internet traffic. It’s like jamming too much garbage down a chute.
Yeah, good luck with that. Google and Microsoft have excellent defenses against so-called denial of service attacks, with an unfathomably huge capacity for sending and receiving information.
2. Lace online ads with malware. Malvertising, as it’s called, is relatively rare. Plus, Google, Microsoft and advertising companies have ways of detecting it before it reaches your computer — especially if they raise their guard on this one.
So, if you want to stand brave in the face of unsubstantiated physical threats hackers made against movie theaters last week, head to the few, small theaters showing it around the country.
But if you plan to exercise your love of freedom and liberty from home, know you’ll be safe.
