Considering that this whole ordeal could have potentially led to a war between North Korea and the US, the latest batch of news from the historic Sony hack makes it sound a bit like a High School drama. Top secret reports have circulated today revealing that the reason why the NSA pegged the Sony Pictures hack on North Korea was because they had actually hacked N. Korea first.
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According to a report in the New York Times, the National Security Agency (NSA) had already staged a hack on North Korea prior to the events of the Sony Pictures hack, obtaining intelligence that led to them being convinced that the so-called Hermit Kingdom’s officials were behind the Sony leaks, which were reportedly made as a response to the creation of the film The Interview, which takes a few jabs at N. Korea dictator Kim Jong-un.
According to FBI Director James Comey, North Korea had failed to hide their tracks effectively when hacking Sony Pictures, which led to them being pinpointed as being responsible for the online attacks. Comey said: “We could see that the IP [Internet protocol] addresses that were being used to post and to send the emails were coming from IPs that were exclusively used by the North Koreans.”
Obama confirming North Korea hacked Sony Pictures.
The NSA had staged the hacking of North Korea after they had grown concerned over the nation’s continued online growth, with the government agency accessing the Chinese online networks that enable N. Korea to access intelligence from outside of their own country. The information obtained by the NSA allowed Obama to openly claim that the country was behind the attacks, before punishing them with new economic sanctions. Many refuted the claims that North Korea could have been responsible for the Sony hack, given the country’s limited online presence in comparison with that of the Western world’s. Accusations have also been thrown in the direction of Comey, with many saying that it would have been easy for a hacker to fake their location.
However, Comey and the FBI remain insistent that the NSA’s findings are correct, with there reportedly being more information that lays the blame on the country which will remain confidential. Still, the skeptics are adamant that this could have been orchestrated by an ex-Sony employee, or even someone working in conjunction with North Korea. If this is the case, it would have been an unprecedented move on behalf of Obama to state his belief that North Korea was behind the attack if he didn’t have sufficient proof, so it seems more likely than ever that the fingers pointed at Kim Kong-un may be pointed in the right direction.
