The hackers who penetrated Sony Entertainment Pictures “got sloppy” and used IP addresses that have been linked to North Koreans, FBI Director James Comey said at a cybersecurity conference in New York on Wednesday. The statement was one of the most direct links the law enforcement agency has drawn publicly between the hack and North Korea since formally accusing the isolated nation in mid-December. Some cybersecurity experts have questioned whether North Korea, which has been the target of U.S. sanctions, has the resources to carry out the attack that nearly led to Sony shelving the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy ‘The Interview.’ “There is not much in this life that I have confidence about, but I have very high confidence in this attribution,” Comey said. “They don’t have the facts that I have, they don’t see what I see.” He said that the group calling itself Guardians of Peace that has claimed responsibility for the hack used proxy servers, and tripped up when they connected directly using North Korean IP addesses.
IN-DEPTH
- Sony Hack is Bad, But the Real Cyberware Is All Around You
- Sony Hack Most Serious Cyberattack Yet on U.S. Interests: Clapper
- FBI Says North Korea Was Behind Sony Hack
SOCIAL
--- Tom Winter, Pete Williams and Matthew DeLuca