Over the past seven weeks, Sony Pictures' chief executive has dealt with the fallout from a cyberattack he likens to having your house robbed and burned to the ground.
But the devastating hack might end up being much less of a disaster for the studio than many had anticipated, he said.
Michael Lynton said the costs associated with the cyberattack, the most destructive on a private company on US soil, would be completely covered by insurance and would not mean any more cost-cutting after a few years of painful restructuring.
"I would say the cost is far less than anything anybody is imagining and certainly shouldn't be anything that is disruptive to our budget," Lynton said. The US government has blamed the attack on North Korea which came as the firm prepared to release its bawdy comedy "The Interview", depicting the assassination of leader Kim Jong-un.
Some experts have put the cost at up to US$100 million, which could include computer repair or replacement, steps to prevent a future attack and lost productivity.
The attack wiped out massive amounts of data and led to the online distribution of email, sensitive employee data and pirated copies of new movies.