Doubt cast on North Korea as source of Sony hack | CBS News |

LOS ANGELES — Cybersecurity experts are questioning the FBI’s claim that North Korea is responsible for the hack that crippled Sony Pictures. Kurt Stammberger, a senior vice president with cybersecurity firm Norse, told CBS News his company has data that doubts some of the FBI’s findings.

“Sony was not just hacked, this is a company that was essentially nuked from the inside,” said Stammberger. While Norse is not involved in the Sony case, it has done its own investigation.

“We are very confident that this was not an attack master-minded by North Korea and that insiders were key to the implementation of one of the most devastating attacks in history,” said Stammberger.

He says Norse data is pointing towards a woman who calls herself “Lena” and claims to be connected with the so-called “Guardians of Peace” hacking group. Norse believes it’s identified this woman as someone who worked at Sony in Los Angeles for ten years until leaving the company this past May.

“This woman was in precisely the right position and had the deep technical background she would need to locate the specific servers that were compromised,” Stammberger told me.

Did North Korea Really Hack Sony?  

North Korea hacking accusations threaten to escalate cyber war.

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North Korea hacking accusations threaten to escalate cyber war between U.S. and China

Chinese authorities condemned the concept of cyber attacks today but insisted there was no evidence that North Korea was behind the Sony hack.

The statement effectively dashed any hopes that the breach of Sony’s network would be an opportunity for the U.S. and China to find some common ground on an issue that had been a growing source of tension between the two countries.

“Before making any conclusions there has to be a full (accounting of) the facts and foundation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told Reuters in an interview. “China will handle it in accordance with relevant international and Chinese laws according to the facts.”

Last week, the FBI claimed it had proof that North Korea was behind the hack. That attack exposed a huge stash of internal Sony documents and caused the studio to at least temporarily delay the release of “The Interview,” a comedy about a plot to assassinate the North Korean leader.

Over the weekend, President Obama said the incident did not amount to an act of war but rather was “cyber vandalism.” He also promised that the U.S. would respond “proportionally, and we will in a manner and place that we choose.”

For its part, North Korea has also denied playing any part in the attack.

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A screen grab from Norse's real-time map of cyberattacks Credit: Courtesy of Norse
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It was no doubt an awkward conversation between two rivals that are engaged in near-open cyber warfare against each other. To get a visual sense of the ongoing attacks between China and the U.S., check out this mesmerizing real-time map of attacks from Norse, a U.S.-based security company.  

Obama explains why Sony’s ‘mistake’ could spark a spiral of self-censorship | Dec. 19, 2014 |

During a press conference today, President Barack Obama spoke eloquently and somewhat chillingly about the implications of Sony’s decision to pull The Interview from theaters. After learning that North Korea was, in fact, responsible for the cyberattack that leaked embarrassing Sony information, Obama said that the decision to pull the movie was a “mistake”.

When a president unequivocally criticizes a major corporation, this makes headlines. But it was Obama’s rant afterwards that seemed most chilling.

h/t MoA – Sony Hack – Likely Inside Attacker Found – Obama Claim Discredited