By Glynn Cosker
Editor, In Homeland Security
Sony Pictures Entertainment denied Wednesday that North Korea played any part in a recent devastating cyber-attack by a group calling itself #GOP for Guardians of Peace.
Earlier Wednesday, Tech news site re/code reported that an announcement from Sony was imminent. Officials at Sony were quick to play down that report.
“The investigation continues into this very sophisticated cyber-attack. The re/code story is not accurate,” a Sony Pictures Entertainment representative informed The Associated Press.
Speculation centers on the possibility that North Korea was responsible as some kind of retaliation against Sony for its upcoming movie “The Interview,” starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. The movie, a comedy, involves a CIA scheme to assassinate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. The North has implemented recent malware attacks on South Korean companies.
The Sony hacking took down the company’s main computer servers, and the criminals involved stole at least five of the movie studio’s upcoming unreleased feature films, including “Annie.” The pirated movies later showed up on various websites as did documents showing the annual salaries of numerous Sony executives—some of whom earn more than $1 million per year.
Meanwhile, Hollywood Reporter has noted there are indications that a Sony insider, possibly a disgruntled employee, was to blame for the cyber-attack.
The investigation continues, and the FBI has neither confirmed nor denied a connection with North Korea.
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