The FBI is now officially blame North Korea for the attacks that have ravaged Sony Pictures for the past weeks .
Per the FBI ( emphasis added ):
As a result of our investigation , and in unaired quislingism with other U.S. government department and agencies , the FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions .
The FBI account that it has been working directly with Sony Pictures Entertainment since briefly after the attacks began . In the course of the probe , the FBI has establish the malware that infected Sony is alike to other malware have it away to be written and deployed by North Korean actor in the past , down to specific product line of computer code .
There are infrastructural tie too . Several IP destination severely - coded into the malware ’s data - deletion algorithms also get over back to IP with connections to premature , known North Korean cyber attacks . Reports from CNNalso explain that the attacks were rout through a number of other land — admit China — and mask by standard DNS spoofing , which the FBI was capable unmask with help from the NSA .
Other than that , the point are sparse , suggest the evidence itself is either thin , secret , or both . Especially given some of the report ’s apparently glaring omissions .
Noticeably absent are any mention of China , which has been rumored to have back the North Korean effort , nor is there any suggestion that any other entities assisted North Korea in its fire of Sony Pictures . Neither does the FBI adumbrate any programme for moving forwards with action at law against North Korea follow this formal accusation . Only that :
Such number of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior . The FBI takes severely any attempt — whether through cyber - enabled mean value , threat of violence , or otherwise — to undermine the economic and societal prosperity of our citizen .
North Korea has been a pop — if not official — suspect since the beginning just because Sony Pictures is responsible for The Interview , a comedy in which Seth Rogan and James Franco meet journalists tasked with assassinate Supreme Leader of North Korea , Kim Jong - Un . Initially the hackers made no reference to North Korea or The Interview until the leaks had been in progress for days , at which stage theyexplicitly called for Sony Pictures to bolt down the picture , later supplementing the demands withthreats of terrorist attacksagainst theatre showing the celluloid . threat that figure out , as major theatre chainsbacked away from the taxi until Sony Pictures canceled screening totally . To make matters worse , this backtrack unleashed a wave of cowardice as Paramountpulled screening rights toTeam America : World Police , seemingly without even being spurred by any further threat . Basically , the hack acquire , full stop .
grounds bespeak to North Korea as a culprit in this attack was sparse at first , with reports that the hackoriginated in a hotel room in Bangkok , alongside the FBI ’s assertions thata North Korean origin were doubtfulandNorth Korea ’s own insistencethat it had nothing to do with the attack . After Sony Pictures dropped The audience entirely , though , reports came rushing in fromthe New York Times , AP , ABC , andCNN , all cite nameless U.S. official connecting North Korea to the cab .
Although we ’ve stupefy a formal accusal on our hands , there are pile of holes that still need weft . Reports that North Korea steal a Sony scheme administrator ’s credentials ( and how it may have been done ) remain unconfirmed , as does any possibility of China ’s affair . And , of course , there ’s the big question : Can we keep this from happening again ?
The FBI ’s full statement follow below :
Today , the FBI would like to render an update on the status of our probe into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment ( SPE ) . In late November , SPE substantiate that it was the victim of a cyber attack that destroyed system and steal large quantities of personal and commercial data . A group call itself the “ Guardians of Peace ” claim responsibility for the blast and later issued threats against SPE , its employees , and theaters that distribute its movies .
The FBI has see that the encroachment into SPE ’s web consist of the deployment of destructive malware and the theft of proprietary data as well as employee ’ in person identifiable information and secret communications . The attack also rendered thousands of SPE ’s computers inoperable , forced SPE to take its total computer connection offline , and significantly disrupted the company ’s business military operation .
After discovering the intrusion into its electronic connection , SPE request the FBI ’s assistance . Since then , the FBI has been working nearly with the company throughout the probe . Sony has been a great partner in the investigating , and continues to work closely with the FBI . Sony report this incident within hours , which is what the FBI hopes all companies will do when facing a cyber attack . Sony ’s nimble reporting facilitate the investigators ’ power to do their jobs , and ultimately to identify the seed of these attack .
As a result of our investigation , and in close coaction with other U.S. government departments and authority , the FBI now has enough information to reason out that the North Korean government is responsible for these action . While the need to protect sensitive source and method forestall us from partake all of this data , our finale is based , in part , on the following :
technological analysis of the information omission malware used in this flak revealed link to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean histrion antecedently developed . For example , there were similarities in specific lines of code , encryption algorithms , data deletion methods , and compromise networks .
The FBI also keep significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber natural process the U.S. government has antecedently linked directly to North Korea . For instance , the FBI discovered that several Internet protocol ( IP ) addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP savoir-faire that were hardcoded into the data deletion malware used in this attack .
Separately , the pecker used in the SPE tone-beginning have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last class against South Korean bank and culture medium outlets , which was hold out by North Korea .
We are deeply implicated about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sphere entity and the ordinary citizens who run there . Further , North Korea ’s attack on SPE reaffirms that cyber threats pose one of the gravest national surety dangers to the United States . Though the FBI has see a panoptic variety show and increasing number of cyber intrusions , the destructive nature of this attack , coupled with its coercive nature , set it apart . North Korea ’s actions were intended to visit significant harm on a U.S. byplay and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves . Such turn of intimidation fall outside the boundary of acceptable United States Department of State behavior . The FBI take seriously any attempt — whether through cyber - enable means , threat of violence , or otherwise — to undermine the economic and social prosperity of our citizens .
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