U.S. government sources said on Wednesday that
investigators had determined the attack was "state
sponsored" and that North Korea was the government
involved.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he was not in
a position to say that North Korea was responsible, but
the investigation was "progressing." He said the attack
was an example of "destructive activity with malicious
intent that was initiated by a sophisticated actor."
Earnest said U.S. national security leaders "would be
mindful of the fact that we need a proportional
response." They were also aware that people carrying out
such attacks are "often seeking to provoke a response,"
he said.
"They may believe that a response from us in one
fashion or another would be advantageous to them" by
enhancing their standing either among their cohorts or
on the international stage, Earnest said.
He said the United States viewed the attack as "a
serious national security matter" that President Barack
Obama was monitoring very closely.
Hackers who said they were incensed by a film on the
fictional assassination of North Korea's leader attacked
Sony Corp last month, leaking documents that drew global
headlines and distributing unreleased films on the
Internet.
On Wednesday, Sony said it was canceling the Dec. 25
release of the offending movie, "The Interview," handing
what appeared to be an unprecedented victory to
Pyongyang and its abilities to wage cyber warfare.
A U.S. government official familiar with the
investigation, but not authorized to speak publicly,
said on Thursday investigators were looking into
similarities between the
attack and others in the past blamed on Iran.
MALICIOUS SOFTWARE
Cybersecurity experts have previously noted
similarities in code used to attack the studio and
malicious software known as "Shamoon" that was used
against Middle Eastern energy companies in 2012.
Shamoon damaged tens of thousands of computers at
Saudi Arabia's national oil firm, Saudi Aramco, in one
of the most destructive cyber campaigns to date. Some
U.S. officials blamed Iran.
Kurt Baumgartner, a researcher with Russian security
software maker Kaspersky Lab, told Reuters on Dec. 4
that there were "unusually striking similarities"
related to the malicious software and techniques in the
Sony incident, the Shamoon campaign and a third set of
attacks last year in South Korea in which more than
30,000 computers at banks and broadcasting companies
were hit with destructive malware.
