Following the cyber attack against Sony, allegedly perpetrated by North Korea, the United States has ramped up economic sanctions considerably against the “Democratic Republic.” According to the BBC, the sanctions specifically mention a few government officials, The Korean Mining Development Trading Organization, and the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean intelligence agency. BBC goes on to note that the exact connections these individuals and organizations have to the cyber attack is “unclear.”
The attack against Sony, which was believed to be related to the film?The Interview, is believed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to be the work of the North Korean government. Following vague threats and other problems, Sony pulled the movie from theaters, a decision that President Obama believed to be a mistake. North Korea has denied any responsibility?in the cyber attack, however, and several news outlets have reported that there is doubt of their involvement.
Scott Borg, Director and Chief Economist of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, shared several doubts about the country’s involvement with the hack in an article on CNBC. Aside from evidence suggesting an inside job at Sony, Borg also believes that the small country lacks the resources and technical know-how to pull off such a large scale hacking operation.
“The cyber attacks carried out against Sony required a much higher level of skill than North Korea could manage as recently as last spring. What’s technically impressive about the attacks is…the enormous amount of activity that the attackers managed to carry out inside Sony’s computers and networks without detection.
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These skillful activities suggest either that North Korea had help in carrying out the attacks or that it wasn’t responsible at all. It is possible that North Korea simply hired criminal hackers to assist them. But North Korea does not have the sort of contacts that would have allowed them to do this quietly, and there have been no rumors that they were shopping for hackers.”
Despite the skepticism, however, the FBI holds that North Korea was responsible. As of this article’s writing, there has been no response from the North Korean government.
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David Pham
is a proud Gaytheist, Gaymer, and Iraq veteran who staunchly supports minority rights and the separation of church and state. When he’s not writing or researching, he can usually be found reading, gaming, and cracking jokes at inappropriate times. He is a former Combat Medic and EMT who now studies Psychology and is pursuing a Ph.D. in the field with the goal of teaching at the college level. ?
