North Korea: 'Supporters And Sympathizers' May Have Hacked Sony
Rob York, writing for NK News, cites a report issued by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) that denied the country was behind the Sony hacks.
According to KCNA, any claims that Pyongyang targeted Sony as revenge for the soon-to-be released film The Interview, in which Seth Rogen and James Franco play talk show hosts enlisted by the CIA to travel to North Korea and assassinate Kim Jong-Un, was a "wild rumor" spread by the "south [sic] Korean puppet authorities."
However, the report went on to suggest that groups sympathetic to North Korea may have acted independently and carried out the attack.
"The hacking into the SONY Pictures might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK in response to its appeal," the KCNA report stated. "What matters here is that the US set the DPRK as the target of the investigation, far from reflecting on its wrongdoings and being (ashamed) of being taken unawares."
The report also contained a further warning to the US that Washington "should also know that there are a great number of supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK all over the world as well as the 'champions of peace' who attacked the SONY Pictures."
This statement is seemingly in line with a theory from Sony and security consultants that the hack was carried out by third parties working in China on Pyongyang's behalf. The company is "exploring the possibility" of North Korean involvement, according to Re/Code.
The size and scope of the Sony hack are unprecedented for an attack on a major US company. Hackers downed Sony's system and released upwards of 11 terabytes of internal company data.