FBI: North Korea is responsible for ‘destructive’ Sony hack – update

North Korea is almost certainly behind the massive hack at Sony Pictures. The FBI said in a statement Friday. The service is based, among other things, on an analysis of the malware, which shows similarities with other Korean code.

Sony immediately called in the FBI after it discovered the hack to its internal systems. In addition, malicious parties made the computers of thousands of employees inaccessible by deleting data. In addition, they stole and published the data of 47,000 Sony employees and former employees, including salary data.

The FBI was investigating the hack with other services. Among other things, the service performed a technical analysis of the malware. It emerged that the malware contains the same lines of code as other software that North Korea used before. In addition, the FBI found that the malware uses the same infrastructure previously deployed in Korean attacks. For example, the IP addresses in the code correspond to Korean addresses, according to the service.

Furthermore, according to the FBI, the attackers used the same tools as the criminals who were involved in a large-scale hacking operation in South Korea earlier this year. In doing so, they shut down computer systems at banks and TV stations in the country by means of malware. At the time, several countries also accused North Korea, but there were no indications at the time.

The FBI says it is very concerned about the “destructive attack” on the private sector and the employees who work in it. In addition, North Korea’s attack on Sony would highlight that cybercrime is one of the greatest national dangers for the United States. “Such intimidation is not acceptable behavior,” the agency said.

The accusation from the Americans is remarkable, because North Korea said in an official statement it had no knowledge of the attack. One of the theories was that the country was behind the attack in revenge for the comedy The Interview that Sony made about the liquidation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Sony already canceled the release of that film because of the cyber attack.

Update, 9:40 PM – President Barack Obama said at a news conference Friday evening that the United States would respond to the attack “proportionally.” How and when that happens, is up to the country to decide at the appropriate time.