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back to article Norks: We might be aggressive but we didn't hack Sony!

North Korea has denied it was the entity behind the epic hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment. An unnamed diplomat based in New York told The Voice of America the country was not linked to the attack despite speculation patriotic hackers had targeted the media giant in retaliation for a satirical film mocking leader Kim Jong Un …

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  1. Mark 85

    Well that was unexpected.. not.

    I didn't think they would own up to it, even if they did it. That would be like NSA or GCHQ owning up to some their shenanigans. On the other hand, the international norms they claim to follow are probably the same ones every spy/cyberwarfare agency ignores anyway.

    4 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Well that was unexpected.. not.

      I didn't think they would own up to it, even if they did it.

      There was no way they were ever behind this attack. They simply don't have the expertise or the equipment and infrastructure to carry it out.

      2 3 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Well that was unexpected.. not.

        I've seen the (alleged) FBI report on the hack and the only thing that actually points to the Norks is the use of a particular language pack as part of the malware. Not allowed to disclose details publicly, but apparently the information can be distributed within the industry - it has information (files names, signatures etc.) on what to look out for and who to report stuff to if you find something.

        0 0 Reply
      2. Stuart 22
        Reply Icon
        Mushroom

        Re: Well that was unexpected.. not.

        "There was no way they were ever behind this attack. They simply don't have the expertise or the equipment and infrastructure to carry it out"

        Why? Building a missile and possibly a nuclear device is kinda clever. People can do amazing things when not continually distracted by Facebook, Twitter and HotNORKdeals.com.

        6 0 Reply
        1. Richard 120
          Reply Icon
          Devil

          HotNORKdeals.com

          I'm not sure what to expect from that website....

          3 0 Reply
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Well that was unexpected.. not.

          Why? Building a missile and possibly a nuclear device is kinda clever. People can do amazing things when not continually distracted by Facebook, Twitter and HotNORKdeals.com.

          I agree that building a missile and a nuclear device is pretty clever, but what isn't clever is creating a group of elite hackers and giving them internet access in a repressed country that is so desperately trying to block information from the real world

          1 2 Reply
          1. SolidSquid
            Reply Icon

            Re: Well that was unexpected.. not.

            As I understand it, the NK approach to internal security is less "if we catch you breaking the rules then you're fired" and more "if we suspect you of breaking the rules then your families will be shot". Even if someone *was* willing to risk their family's lives, the risk of someone calling them out would be much higher than it would in a similar organisation outside NK

            1 0 Reply
      3. Vociferous
        Reply Icon

        Re: Well that was unexpected.. not.

        > They simply don't have the expertise or the equipment and infrastructure to carry it out

        The nork military has plenty expertise and equipment and infrastructure (and it's not like it requires a lot).

        Don't confuse the military's capabilities with the capabilities of the starving and hovel-dwelling civilian population.

        3 0 Reply
  2. thomas k.
    Pirate

    inquiries to the pirate groups have gone unanswered

    "Arr! We be out piratin' on the high seas. Leave yer message after the tone."

    4 0 Reply
  3. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Trollface

    About that...

    "My country publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy."

    Can't find it in any MiniEducation-approved shop? Piracy sorted!

    0 1 Reply
  4. wolfetone Silver badge

    North Korea have computers?

    1 0 Reply
    1. Frumious Bandersnatch
      Reply Icon

      North Korea have computers?

      Apparently there are quite a few computers there. There was a documentary on TV a while back that talked about (among other things) people smuggling in laptops and USB memory cards so the Norks can get news about what's happening in the world and get their fix of dubbed copies of things like Desperate Housewives. I think it was probably "Secret State of North Korea". Worth watching if you happen across the full documentary (link only has a short preview).

      1 0 Reply
  5. qwertyuiop

    Norks? Probably not

    I'm sceptical that it was the Norks, not because I doubt their capability but because a lot of the behaviours around the attack don't speak to me of a nation-state attack. Posting a picture of a skeleton to the company's machines? Posting stolen content to Pastebin? Sounds more like your avaerage hacker. Good piece in Wired about it - http://www.wired.com/2014/12/sony-hack-what-we-know/

    2 0 Reply
  6. Merlinski
    Trollface

    Norks

    In Australian, norks are something else.

    Unless you mean North Koreans (& especially the lilfat'un) are a bunch of tits.

    Then again, norks with the skills to hack Sony sounds like an XKCD nightmare.

    2 0 Reply
  7. Chris King

    "Then again, norks with the skills to hack Sony sounds like an XKCD nightmare"

    Lucky guesses, more like !

    http://www.scmagazineuk.com/weak-passwords-revealed-by-sony-pictures-hackers/article/386610/

    0 0 Reply
  8. Kev99 Silver badge

    Once more a business thinks the internet is safe and there puts its confidential, proprietary data out for all the world to see instead of using a dedicated private network as business used to do. To The Cloud! More like, "To the moon, Alice." Sony deserves what it got.

    1 0 Reply
  9. zen1

    Anybody remember that root kit?

    It sucks that Sony put themselves in such a bad predicament and the people who committed this, ideally, would be punished. But I vaguely remember a root kit coming out of Sony a few years back that posed a pretty serious risk to, well, everybody and how much did they not get fined? Were they ever really punished for it?

    A company I'm familiar with runs about 50 TB a day through their internet connection. We tend to know where that traffic is going and who's ending it. How in the name of hell did they allow this to happen and how the hell did they lose all that data?

    Sorry, but that's almost Darwinian

    0 0 Reply
  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Kim's long absence planning the hack

    When Kim Jong un is out of the limelight for months there must be a good reason, such as planning this hack, even if it was just to give the direction "wipe SPE off the face of the earth"

    0 0 Reply

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