Ex-Anonymous hacker questions North Korea's role in Sony hack

[JonLP24]

8. So far no one is proven guilty for that

Personally I acknowledge possible suspects include North Korea, North Korean supporters based in China, or someone with other motives.

I don't know if you consider me one of those internet detectives but I find opinions from people who know what they're talking about interesting. None of it means NK didn't do it, however.

Blogger Marc Rogers drills down into the details of this particular hack.

He concludes that the fact that the code was written on a PC with Korean locale and language actually makes it less likely North Korea is the source.

He points out that they do not speak traditional Korean in North Korea, they speak their own dialect and traditional Korean is forbidden.

"Let's not forget also that it is trivial to change the language/locale of a computer before compiling code on it," he writes.

He also points out that the the hackers are very net and social-media savvy. "That and the sophistication of the operation, do not match with the profile of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)."

But perhaps his most compelling piece of evidence is the fact that the attackers only latched onto The Interview connection after the media suggested that North Korea might be linked to the attack.

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When the hack was first reported there was little to suggest a monetary motive but actually the hackers emailed five top Sony Pictures executives on November 21, days before they began leaking the files, and demanded money.

Sean Sullivan, a senior researcher at security company F-Secure, believes extortion could be the motive behind the hack.

"That is a lot more credible than a nation state," he told the BBC.

For him, the real test will be what the hackers do next.

If the pulling of The Interview was their primary motive, things should quieten down but if there are more data dumps, then he thinks everyone should pretty much dismiss North Korea as the source.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30530361