WASHINGTON — The detective work blaming North Korea for the Sony hacker break-in appears so far to be largely circumstantial, The Associated Press has learned.
The dramatic conclusion of a Korean role is based on subtle clues in the hacking tools left behind and the involvement of at least one computer in Bolivia previously traced to other attacks blamed on the North Koreans.
Experts cautioned that hackers employ disinformation to throw investigators off their tracks, using borrowed tools, tampering with logs and inserting false references to language or nationality.
The hackers are thought to have been conducting surveillance on the network at Sony Pictures Entertainment since at least the spring, based on computer forensic evidence and traffic analysis, a person with knowledge of the investigation told the AP.
If the hackers hadn’t made their presence known by making demands and destroying files, they probably would still be inside because there was no indication their presence was about to be detected, the person said.
This person, who described the evidence as circumstantial, spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk openly about an ongoing criminal case.
Still, the evidence has been considered conclusive enough that a U.S. official told the AP that federal investigators have connected the Sony hacking to North Korea. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity because the offical wasn’t authorized to openly discuss an ongoing criminal case.
In public, White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Thursday declined to blame North Korea, saying he didn’t want to get ahead of investigations by the Justice Department and the FBI.
Earnest said evidence shows the hacking was carried out by a “sophisticated actor” with “malicious intent.”
Sony abruptly canceled the Dec. 25 release of its comedy, “The Interview,” which the hackers had demanded partly because it included a scene depicting the assassination of North Korea’s leader. Sony cited the hackers’ threats of violence at movie theaters that planned to show the movie.
The episode is sure to cost Sony millions of dollars. The decision to pull the film has raised concerns that capitulating to criminals will encourage more hacking.
“By effectively yielding to aggressive acts of cyberterrorism by North Korea, that decision sets a troubling precedent that will only empower and embolden bad actors to use cyber as an offensive weapon even more aggressively in the future,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
He said the Obama administration has failed to control the use of cyber weapons by foreign governments.
