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Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 03:17 AM Dec 2014

The Evidence That North Korea Hacked Sony Is Flimsy

First of all, Sony and the FBI have announced that they’ve found no evidence so far to tie North Korea to the attack. 2 New reports, however, indicate that intelligence officials who are not permitted to speak on the record have concluded that the North Koreans are behind the hack. But they have provided no evidence to support this and without knowing even what agency the officials belong to, it’s difficult to know what to make of the claim. And we should point out that intelligence agencies and government officials have jumped to hasty conclusions or misled the public in the past because it was politically expedient.

Nation-state attacks aren’t generally as noisy, or announce themselves with an image of a blazing skeleton posted to infected computers, as occurred in the Sony hack. Nor do they use a catchy nom-de-hack like Guardians of Peace to identify themselves. Nation-state attackers also generally don’t chastise their victims for having poor security, as purported members of GOP have done in media interviews. Nor do such attacks involve posts of stolen data to Pastebin—the unofficial cloud repository of hackers—where sensitive company files belonging to Sony have been leaked. These are all hallmarks of hacktivists—groups like Anonymous and LulzSec, who thrive on targeting large corporations for ideological reasons or just the lulz, or by hackers sympathetic to a political cause.

Despite all of this, media outlets won’t let the North Korea narrative go and don’t seem to want to consider other options. If there’s anything years of Law and Order reruns should tell us, it’s that focusing on a single suspect can lead to exclusionary bias where clues that contradict the favored theory get ignored.

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/

57 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Evidence That North Korea Hacked Sony Is Flimsy (Original Post) Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 OP
Leave North Korea Alone! A-Schwarzenegger Dec 2014 #1
lulz Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #35
North Korea Behind Sony Hack? If So, It Had Help, Expert Says MADem Dec 2014 #2
someone like the CIA? grasswire Dec 2014 #3
China. They just asked their parent state to hack Sony imo. Rex Dec 2014 #4
No--more at the link. They kited the attack through Taiwan to take advantage of faster net speed. nt MADem Dec 2014 #7
Sorry, for some reason this post 7 "double posted"...! nt MADem Dec 2014 #7
"... or from someone at Sony with inside access. ..." Working with computers for 23yrs, this is most uponit7771 Dec 2014 #11
I think it was a little bit of this, a little bit of that.... MADem Dec 2014 #12
It's nearly always someone with inside access. randome Dec 2014 #14
"Borg said"? postulater Dec 2014 #24
Heheh....but his first name is SCOTT.... MADem Dec 2014 #33
Interesting... daredtowork Dec 2014 #5
So it is 'agents' from the great spy-cloud in the sky? With spontaneous 'reports' with no evidence. Rex Dec 2014 #6
I read that the hacking software was pretty shoddy programming. Kablooie Dec 2014 #9
Have "Hackers" been Time's person of the year yet? SleeplessinSoCal Dec 2014 #10
I see the fear machine is alive and well... MattSh Dec 2014 #13
No one is afraid of North Korea. They are lightweights and always will be. randome Dec 2014 #15
Kim Jung Un is many things Amishman Dec 2014 #54
meh 99Forever Dec 2014 #16
Some of us do. HappyMe Dec 2014 #17
Then don't do it. 99Forever Dec 2014 #18
It's already been done. HappyMe Dec 2014 #19
Not by me or to me. 99Forever Dec 2014 #20
I don't care that Sony was hacked. HappyMe Dec 2014 #21
I didn't "give in to FEAR!!11 TERRA!!1 so easily" or crap on anything. 99Forever Dec 2014 #23
+1. Nt newfie11 Dec 2014 #26
I agree... Javaman Dec 2014 #34
I miss Hannah Bell. nt msanthrope Dec 2014 #22
Me too. nt MannyGoldstein Dec 2014 #31
I have a feeling you mean that, sincerely. nt msanthrope Dec 2014 #32
Thanks for the bump Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #47
I suspect you are being sarcastic. Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #37
Ya' think? Yes, HighPoint and Hannah were the same banned troll, and NK cheerleader. msanthrope Dec 2014 #38
What is WSWS? Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #39
WSWS is his socialist website of lunacy. Oh, yeah....ElJohns was him, too. nt msanthrope Dec 2014 #40
hannah is a he? Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #41
Here--- msanthrope Dec 2014 #42
link to google? Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #43
No--a link to "Let Me Google That For You. " nt msanthrope Dec 2014 #44
Ok Googled Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #45
There's a blast from the past. NuclearDem Dec 2014 #46
Nah--it morphed into HiPointDem and ElJohns....so it never really left. I'm sure it's still here.nt msanthrope Dec 2014 #49
Well, the Hannah Bell iteration at least. NuclearDem Dec 2014 #50
Yeah that was a flameout...nt Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #51
I missed eljohns Jesus Malverde Dec 2014 #52
This big hoopla because a corporation was hacked newfie11 Dec 2014 #25
Did anyone check Netflix? postulater Dec 2014 #27
Here we go: "Hack attack spurs call for more NKorea sanctions" CJCRANE Dec 2014 #28
Exactly nt newfie11 Dec 2014 #48
Sure sounds like a strong possibility KoKo Dec 2014 #55
It was Huge Leader himself! MannyGoldstein Dec 2014 #29
All your interwebs are belong to us! n/t deutsey Dec 2014 #30
This is very convenient to ratchet up pressure on N Korea Cosmic Kitten Dec 2014 #36
If it was't an in-house theft, I would like ti see how they got the 100TB of data LiberalArkie Dec 2014 #53
Bet you didn't have one of these ... GeorgeGist Dec 2014 #56
http://www.democraticunderground.com/emoticons/rofl.gif LiberalArkie Dec 2014 #57

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
35. lulz
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 10:20 AM
Dec 2014

Last edited Fri Dec 19, 2014, 01:27 PM - Edit history (2)

Is that a hybrid of Mr. Bean on blow and leave britney alone.



Good one +1!

Saved!

MADem

(135,425 posts)
2. North Korea Behind Sony Hack? If So, It Had Help, Expert Says
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 03:34 AM
Dec 2014
Borg told NBC News via email that while it's possible some party other than North Korea perpetrated the hack, "the most likely scenario right now seems to be that North Korea carried out these attacks, but that they had help from outside hackers far more skilled than they are, or from someone at Sony with inside access. The skill level of these cyberattacks is just too much of a jump from what North Korean hackers were capable of earlier this year."


Video at link: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/sony-hack/north-korea-behind-sony-hack-if-so-it-had-help-n271341
 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
4. China. They just asked their parent state to hack Sony imo.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 03:44 AM
Dec 2014

And I bet they did, because they can. Or this is all bullshit, which is what I thought from the beginning. A publicity stunt that went awry.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
7. No--more at the link. They kited the attack through Taiwan to take advantage of faster net speed. nt
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 04:07 AM
Dec 2014

uponit7771

(90,339 posts)
11. "... or from someone at Sony with inside access. ..." Working with computers for 23yrs, this is most
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 04:50 AM
Dec 2014

... likely the case

MADem

(135,425 posts)
12. I think it was a little bit of this, a little bit of that....
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 06:50 AM
Dec 2014

Maybe some money changed hands...?

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
14. It's nearly always someone with inside access.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:10 AM
Dec 2014

That's why it's so ludicrous to say Sony was simply incompetent. Much as every company that's ever been hacked is incompetent.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]If you don't give yourself the same benefit of a doubt you'd give anyone else, you're cheating someone.[/center][/font][hr]

daredtowork

(3,732 posts)
5. Interesting...
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 03:46 AM
Dec 2014

Hmm, it could be China, using North Korean grievances as a shield.

If so, you have to hand it to them for getting total buy in from the US public that North Korea did it. Very clever Chinese cyber warfare Department Number 6!

At the same time, I wouldn't totally discount the North Koreans, either. Aren't South Koreans game programming gurus? Who's to say that skill isn't interchanged with North Korea? I seem to remember being tres amused at all those videos North Korea put out with their video-gamesque fantasies of nuking the U.S. every time they felt their will was crossed in the least little thing. They are certainly capable of whipping up the anti-U.S.-hate and framing it as "war by any means" - and China, at least, has made it clear that war "by any means' is cyber warfare. So if North Korea has hackers with the actual skills, then they would totally do this.

The argument against China: they wouldn't want the US to know they've declared cyber war, yet. It's still all shadowy CIA stuff, as far as they're concerned.

North Korea is the one that would openly declare cyber war, as per the Nuke Videos.

I suppose China could be lurking behind them, but how could they think we wouldn't find out? And then the cyber war would be declared - exactly what they don't want.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
6. So it is 'agents' from the great spy-cloud in the sky? With spontaneous 'reports' with no evidence.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 03:49 AM
Dec 2014

Kablooie

(18,634 posts)
9. I read that the hacking software was pretty shoddy programming.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 04:32 AM
Dec 2014

it did its job but had a lot of bugs and poorly designed code.

MattSh

(3,714 posts)
13. I see the fear machine is alive and well...
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:05 AM
Dec 2014

Who needs evidence? Just need to keep the fear coming.

One day it's Ebola, next it's Iran, then Afghanistan, or Pakistan, or China, or Russia, or ISIS, or Kenya, or flesh eating bacteria, or WMD, or hackers, or pot smokers, or Killer Klowns from Outer Space, or ________. Do they ever have any evidence or do they have a "bogeyman of the day" hat that they pick names from?

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
15. No one is afraid of North Korea. They are lightweights and always will be.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:11 AM
Dec 2014

[hr][font color="blue"][center]If you don't give yourself the same benefit of a doubt you'd give anyone else, you're cheating someone.[/center][/font][hr]

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
17. Some of us do.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:24 AM
Dec 2014

Handing the 1st and creative expression over to a dope in NK is a stupid thing to do.

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
21. I don't care that Sony was hacked.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:36 AM
Dec 2014

I care that they give in to FEAR!!11 TERRA!!1 so easily, thus crapping on the 1st.
Am I Sony?

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
23. I didn't "give in to FEAR!!11 TERRA!!1 so easily" or crap on anything.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:46 AM
Dec 2014

Nor do I control what some freakin' rich corporation does. Let 'em fight their own damn battles on their own damn dime.

Javaman

(62,530 posts)
34. I agree...
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 09:56 AM
Dec 2014

In fact, I support the hacking of more corporations. if there is anything that will bring their downfall and their corporate colonization to a halt quickly, it will be hacking.

It seems as if that is the only way the people of this nation can get back to thing that resembles democracy.

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
37. I suspect you are being sarcastic.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 10:38 AM
Dec 2014

I remember a poster (HiPointDem) the neocon from Canada used to call "Hannah", I miss that poster too, if thats who you are referring to??

They brought a radical left wing point of view to the forum that is sadly missing in a sea of mass media programming.

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
38. Ya' think? Yes, HighPoint and Hannah were the same banned troll, and NK cheerleader.
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 11:27 AM
Dec 2014

Radical left wing viewpoint? I guess, if you call using the execrable WSWS website as your 'reality.'

That troll could tie Bill Gates and the Bilderbergers to any organization--he was the Kevin Bacon of CT.

On edit---if by "neocon from Canada" you mean the estimable Mr. Dithers, then you should be aware that his troll hunting is unsurpassed--and it was he who caught HighPoint.

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
41. hannah is a he?
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 12:10 PM
Dec 2014

Got a link to this "website of lunacy"?

Ya'll been at this too long sometime, sounds crazier than a bagful of spiders.



Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
43. link to google?
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 12:34 PM
Dec 2014


Sounds strange I knew google bought boston robotics, I didn't know google was the he who is Hannah. Strange days.


 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
49. Nah--it morphed into HiPointDem and ElJohns....so it never really left. I'm sure it's still here.nt
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 01:10 PM
Dec 2014

newfie11

(8,159 posts)
25. This big hoopla because a corporation was hacked
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 08:59 AM
Dec 2014

I find this reaction from my country over the top.
Corporations probably do this or did do this often. No international hoopla do I remember.

Why are we (America) politically in an uproar?

Was this created by us (CIA) for a reason?

I'm not buying this. This smells to much like lemmings.
I'm not blindly following the "leader".

CJCRANE

(18,184 posts)
28. Here we go: "Hack attack spurs call for more NKorea sanctions"
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 09:13 AM
Dec 2014
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014969298

Work back from the objective and things you see in the news start to make sense.

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
55. Sure sounds like a strong possibility
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 02:26 PM
Dec 2014

someone interested in promoting NKorea Sanctions was involved, then.

Not many countries are able to unilaterally impose Sanctions that can hurt a country economically. So, that would seem to limit the choices as to who sponsored the attack.

But, it could also have been a Rogue Group of hackers not affiliated with any country doing it for fun, or their own personal agenda, which encourages our usual "Sanction Supporters" to seize the moment to use the attack on Sony for their own advantage.

Hard to know...but, will be interesting to see what else is revealed.



 

MannyGoldstein

(34,589 posts)
29. It was Huge Leader himself!
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 09:22 AM
Dec 2014

Brilliant Comrade humilates Western Sony hyenas with superior coding skills. In heiroglyphic macro assembler of Outstanding Leader's own creation!

All performed in the service of true Korean peoples in just one day after completing Streetlight on Flatus, thanks to healthy methamphetamine kimchi.

Brilliant Comrade shocks the world!

Cosmic Kitten

(3,498 posts)
36. This is very convenient to ratchet up pressure on N Korea
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 10:23 AM
Dec 2014

...and how long until we have total Govt control
over the interweb for "national security" reasons?

LiberalArkie

(15,715 posts)
53. If it was't an in-house theft, I would like ti see how they got the 100TB of data
Fri Dec 19, 2014, 01:34 PM
Dec 2014

out of Sony without someone noticing something. Getting 100TB out of their "data center" done locally would have been a heck of an undertaking. I have been out of data center work for a few years, I can see how it could be done b just hoping a new drive in a raid array. But still it takes a long time to do 100TB. In my thinking it would have had to have started before the movie was even started.

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