Holding masses of data, cybercriminals face new hurdles to cashing out

After Sony Pictures Entertainment’s computer network was breached in late November, it appeared the hackers wanted to blackmail the company.

“We’ve got great damage by Sony Pictures,” read an email sent to Sony executives. “The compensation for it, monetary compensation we want.”

Apparently Sony Pictures didn’t give the hackers what they wanted, and gigabytes of data were posted online, including a spreadsheet of all of the company’s employees and their salaries.

Though the Sony hackers apparently did not get what they wanted, data clearly has a value. But determining its value depends on a variety of factors. And it’s not as easy as it used to be to cash out.

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