Sony Wars: The FBI Always Gets Their Man. Or Nation State. Apparently

Previously on this blog we discussed the falling out between Sony Pictures and North Korea – which is an understatement to say the least – over Sony’s Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy The Interview. It was, according to North Korean officials and supporters, an act of war to depict the assassination of Dear Leader Kim Jong-Un. Freedom of expression having scant traction in the Communist dictatorship.

All eyes were on North Korea when it came to the hack which saw private emails, personal data and unreleased films leaked. Now it seems the FBI have confirmed that the hackers were indeed linked to the despotic state. The country had previously denied any involvement in the hack.

Speaking at a cyber-security conference at Fordham Law School, the direct of the G-Men James Comey suggested that the hackers – who have dubbed themselves, without a hint of irony, Guardians of Peace – had tripped up several times. This gave the Feds the opportunity to pin-point precisely where the attacks were coming from.

During the conference, Comey said: ‘In nearly every case [Sony hackers known as the Guardians of Peace] used proxy servers to disguise where they were coming from in sending emails and posting these statements. But several times they got sloppy. Several times, either because they forgot or because of a technical problem, they connected directly and we could see the IPs they were using were exclusively used by North Korea.’ He also claimed that the North Koreans ‘shut it off very quickly once they saw their mistake.’ But not before the FBI had the proof they needed.

The FBI chief went on to say that he had ‘very high confidence’ in the findings.  That’s no surprise, given the amount of sources he confirmed as being part of the investigation, including the Feds’ behavioural analysis unit, which psychologically studies the writings, ramblings and actions of America’s enemies.

In fairness though, not everyone’s convinced, with some in the cyber-security industry stating that the FBI couldn’t possibly have extracted the data as quickly as they have done – in essence, the claim is that the FBI want North Korea to be blamed, and will find a way of blaming them. However, Comey was quick to denounce their scepticism, saying: ‘They don’t have the facts that I have. They don’t see what I see.’

Whoever is truly behind the hack attacks on Sony Pictures, it serves to highlight the importance of maintaining strong IT security. That’s why here at Tristar IT we offer expert IT support services in London – so you can have peace of mind that your systems are taken care of. For more information about our services, please contact us on 01707 378 453 or email sales@tristarsupport.co.uk and our specialists will be more than happy to discuss options for your IT systems.