US attributes Sony attack to North Korea

Federal investigators accused North Korea of carrying out a computer attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, blaming the government for an intrusion that exposed corporate e-mails, wiped out computer data and underlined the cyber capabilities of one of the United States’ top adversaries. The new claim marks a significant escalation -- the first time that the United States has openly laid blame on a foreign government for a destructive cyberattack against an American corporation.

The statement said the conclusion was based in part on a “technical analysis” of the malware used in the attack, which “revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed.” The FBI said the attack was also linked to several Internet protocol addresses “associated with known North Korean infrastructure.” North Korea’s actions were “intended to inflict significant harm on a US business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves,” the FBI said. “Though we have seen many different types of intrusions targeting US networks, the destructive nature of this attack, coupled with its coercive nature, sets it apart from typical cyber incidents,” a senior administration official said.