![\"Sony-hack\"](\"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/files\/2014\/12\/Sony-hack-1024x767-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSony, having clearly failed to learn its lesson after attackers hacked its PlayStation Network into a month-long coma in the spring of 2011<\/a>, is the main character in yet another serious and humiliating security incident.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a rough and heavily abridged timeline of events:<\/p>\n First Sony Pictures Entertainment gets hacked by a group widely believed to be allied with the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea. Then, in no particular order, the hackers start releasing troves of stolen proprietary information, including but not limited to movies, scripts for future movies, sensitive employee healthcare information and internal email spools. Finally the hackers threaten to attack movie theaters on the release of \u201cThe Interview,\u201d Regal Cinemas \u2013 among the largest movie theater chains in the United States \u2013 says it will not play the movie and Sony ultimately decides to delay its release.<\/p>\n The popular opinion is that North Korea is behind the attacks. There\u2019s been a healthy amount of skepticism towards that position though \u2013 and with good reason. In general, when a nation-state sponsored hacking group carries out an attack, they do so as secretly as possible. You can generally look at an advanced persistent threat group or campaign and say that a certain country was probably<\/em> responsible for a given attack. But the goal, typically, from the attacker\u2019s perspective is to never allow for 100 percent clear attribution. That goal is aided by the reality that attribution is a naturally imperfect science on the Internet anyway.<\/p>\n In this case, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack apparently posted a showy and, frankly, ridiculous graphic of a spooky looking skeleton on a number of owned desktops on Sony\u2019s network. Most APT groups aren\u2019t in the business of announcing their presence on a compromised network. This Guardians of Peace group has since issued some serious threats against Sony, moviegoers and the broader American public.<\/p>\n The question remains: is North Korea in some way behind the attack on Sony? Threatpost and scores of other news outlets are following the U.S. Government\u2019s lead today and reporting that North Korea is in fact \u201ccentrally involved\u201d in the attack<\/a>. Details of what the U.S. Government knows remain scant at the time of publication, but there is supposed to be a White House announcement later in the day.<\/p>\n There\u2019s as much room for skepticism as there is to believe that North Korea is responsible for the #Sony hack<\/p>Tweet<\/a><\/blockquote>\n Wired, on the other hand, is sticking to its guns, and continues to suggest that there is little evidence linking the Sony hack to North Korea<\/a>. Wired cites the difficulty of attribution as well as statements from Sony and the FBI \u2013 who have both stated publicly that there is no evidence to link this attack to North Korea \u2013 as reasons for skepticism. It\u2019s hard to disagree with Wired. Why would a foreign government very publicly attack a foreign corporation over an intentionally absurd movie?<\/p>\n There could be a number of reasons actually.<\/p>\n The Sony hack is extremely worrying. Hackers using real-world terror threats and achieving their goal is really bad for everyone<\/p>\n \u2014 Eugene Kaspersky (@e_kaspersky) December 18, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n