Posted in: Comics | Tagged: hackers, iron man 3, james rhodes, marvel, opm, united

OPM Hackers Are Big Marvel Comics Fans

Published Thu, 30 Jul 2015 14:00:16 -0500

This is a side-effect of the move by Marvel Studios to get their films distributed more widely in China, that they may not have anticipated.

Iron Man 3 was co-produced by The Walt Disney Company China, Marvel Studios and Chinese firm DMG Entertainment and partially filmed there, enabling the movie to be better distributed I the country on release, under strict foreign media rules. DMG would later make large investments into Marvel's fellow New York publisher, Valiant Entertainment.

So, basically, a lot more folk got to see thee guys in China.

Currently, Chinese hackers are the no.1 suspect for the recent OPM hack, exposing data for security clearances and US government employee records, affecting up to four million people.

They are also suspected of hacking United Airlines at the same time. SCMP reports,

There is evidence the hackers were in the carrier's network for months. One web domain apparently set up for the attack was established in April last year. The domain was registered by a James Rhodes, who provided an address in American Samoa.

James Rhodes is also the alias of the character War Machine in Marvel Comics' Iron Man. Security companies tracking the OPM hackers say they often use Marvel comic book references as a way to "sign" their attack.