FBI Confirms North Korea Behind Terrorist Attack on Sony - Obama Vows Response
According to the BBC News, "Obama vows US Response to Sony Hack," the FBI has confirmed that North Korea launched the terrorist attack on Sony which destroyed many millions of dollars worth of intellectual property and revealed personal details of Sony executives and other employees.
Earlier on Friday, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation officially tied North Korea to the cyberattack, linking the country to malware used in the incident.
According to David Lee, technology reporter
The FBI say it spotted distinct similarities between the type of malware used in the Sony Pictures attack and code used to attack South Korea last year.
Suspicious, yes, but well short of being a smoking gun. When any malware is discovered, it is shared around many experts for analysis - any attacker could simply reversion the code for their own use, like a cover version of a song.
But there's another, better clue: IP addresses - locations, essentially - known to be part of "North Korean infrastructure" formed part of the malware too.
This suggests the attack may have been controlled by people who have acted for North Korea in the past.
This, coupled with the clear coordination between the terrorists' actions and North Korean objectives, make it clear that North Korea is probably responsible for this attack. North Korea has also committed decades of unanswered acts of war and truce violations, including murders of military personnel, armed terrorist attacks, and slave raiding, against the United States of America and her allies, so even in the unlikely event that North Korea was not behind this attack, no injustice would be committed by going to war.
President Obama said:
"We will respond," Mr Obama told reporters on Friday, declining to offer specifics. "We will respond proportionately and in a space, time and manner that we choose."
He added: "We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States."
Tough words. We will see if Obama is willing to match these tough words with tough actions.
The fact that he said this right after normalizing relations with Cuba, a country which has also committed terrorist acts against the United States of America, makes me doubt this, but he might surprise us all in the end.
Earlier on Friday, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation officially tied North Korea to the cyberattack, linking the country to malware used in the incident.
According to David Lee, technology reporter
The FBI say it spotted distinct similarities between the type of malware used in the Sony Pictures attack and code used to attack South Korea last year.
Suspicious, yes, but well short of being a smoking gun. When any malware is discovered, it is shared around many experts for analysis - any attacker could simply reversion the code for their own use, like a cover version of a song.
But there's another, better clue: IP addresses - locations, essentially - known to be part of "North Korean infrastructure" formed part of the malware too.
This suggests the attack may have been controlled by people who have acted for North Korea in the past.
This, coupled with the clear coordination between the terrorists' actions and North Korean objectives, make it clear that North Korea is probably responsible for this attack. North Korea has also committed decades of unanswered acts of war and truce violations, including murders of military personnel, armed terrorist attacks, and slave raiding, against the United States of America and her allies, so even in the unlikely event that North Korea was not behind this attack, no injustice would be committed by going to war.
President Obama said:
"We will respond," Mr Obama told reporters on Friday, declining to offer specifics. "We will respond proportionately and in a space, time and manner that we choose."
He added: "We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship in the United States."
Tough words. We will see if Obama is willing to match these tough words with tough actions.
The fact that he said this right after normalizing relations with Cuba, a country which has also committed terrorist acts against the United States of America, makes me doubt this, but he might surprise us all in the end.