US government: Sony hackers have link with North Korean regime

The hackers who penetrated Sony’s internal systems and put internal documents from the film studio online are linked to the North Korean government. Sources within the US government have informed at least three media outlets.

The information was published almost simultaneously by three well-known US media outlets, NBC, CNN and the New York Times. It is not yet known whether the US government will publicly designate North Korea as responsible for this hack.

It is unclear whether the hackers themselves are North Korean or whether the hack was perpetrated by criminals on behalf of the North Korean government. It also appears that the hackers had some insider help and access to Sony’s servers before the attack took place in late November.

Sony has since canceled the release of The Interview, the film that allegedly incited the hackers to the cyber attack. The film, a comedy about the plan to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, will no longer be released in the United States. The film studio has not yet announced whether the cancellation also applies to Europe: the film should be released here at the end of January. With that, the hackers seem, at least partly, to have got their way.