North Korea Suspected of Sony Hack

After last weeks hack at Sony Pictures, everyone has been trying to pin who was responsible on various groups. North Korea have emerged as one of the suspects of the security breach. The hack was claimed by a mystery group that go by the name GOP (Guardians of Peace) but there is very little to suggest that they are in fact linked. North Korea suspected of Sony hack due to their threats towards those responsible for the release of the comedy film The Interview by Seth Rogen and James Franco. The Sony Pictures film depicts an attempted assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un and has been heavily criticised by the country.

The attack on the Sony Pictures left all computers unusable in the offices as an ominous picture appeared on the screens carrying a warning from GOP. The hack also cost the company in leaked films and private documents. The films were even released across the internet, distributed amongst many peer-to-peer file-sharing sites, including Brad Pitt’s Fury.

North Korea reacted to The Interview with damning statements from both their ambassador and foreign ministry, even declaring the film’s release as an ‘act of war’ and threatened ‘merciless counter-measures’ if The Interview was allowed to be released.

North Korea have had a history of using cyber attacks, the last coming as an attack on South Korea, targeting their cash machines and TV stations. South Korea then proceeded to openly blame their neighbours. Even though North Korea suspected of Sony hack, the country has not confirmed, or even denied, their involvement in the attack.