The Sony hack is becoming an increasingly divisive topic for an unexpected reason: opinion as to whether or not North Korea is genuinely to blame for the successful hack of Sony data.
The U.S. government has already weighed in, officially blaming the nation for a form of cyber terrorism that made The Interview the center of a “free speech” debate.
However, whatever Sony or government officials say, there remains lingering doubt about North Korea’s role.
The isolationist nation continues to deny responsibility related to information stolen from Sony or various threats made against the company. North Korean officials did say that the hack could be the work of persons sympathetic to the nation.
#NorthKorea denies #Sony hack but warns U.S.: Worse is coming: http://t.co/dHo9AXT80W pic.twitter.com/IbUx6uLChM
— KUTV 2News (@KUTV2News) December 22, 2014
There is also the continued disbelief expressed by cyber security professionals and experts. Persons who are highly trained in the field of digital security seem to feel that the threat is closer to home than we’ve been lead to believe.
Instead of Sony being the victim of a hostile foreign power, it’s theorized that the hack was more or less “an inside job.”
According to a report by CBS News , at least one cybersecurity firm has evidence that raises the possibility that an unnamed individual or organization is responsible for the attack on Sony.
Kurt Stammberger, the vice-president of Norse, said that his company found data that Sony was “nuked from the inside.”
“We are very confident that this was not an attack masterminded by North Korea and that insiders were key to the implementation of one of the most devastating attacks in history.”
One key piece of evidence cited by the FBI was an IP address linked to the hack, which allegedly originated in the Asian nation.
However, network security analyst Scott Petry told NPR that it’s not that difficult to spoof an internet IP in such a way that it deceives others about a hacker’s true location.
Sony, in truth, could have experienced a devastating hack from any corner of the planet, and if the party responsible wished, they could easily have pinned their actions on another person or country.
Said Petry, “The fact that data was relayed through IPs associated with North Korea is not a smoking gun. There are products today that will route traffic through IP addresses around the world.”
Was North Korea even behind the #SonyHack ? Cybersecurity analysts are having doubts: http://t.co/Kt9OZSTfZS @CNN pic.twitter.com/NyyX6bIhX1
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) December 26, 2014
Perhaps this is why the Guardians of Peace, or GOP, were more than happy to mock the FBI after their declaration.
The GOP seemingly congratulated the law enforcement for its success and then linked them to a video where an animation repeatedly insulted called them idiots.
This reaction only served to increase speculation that the United States blamed the wrong persons for the Sony hack, and possibly exposed Americans to further danger.
What are the chances that the U.S. government is wrong about who is responsible for the Sony hack?
[Image Credits: WikimediaCommons]
