North Korea Pleads Innocent On Sony Hack, Offers To Help U.S. Find True Culprits
U.S. officials debated whether or not to officially blame North Korea for a massive cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, though not for long. President Barack Obama said during a new conference yesterday that the evidence suggests North Korea is indeed responsible and promised a response, one that will come "proportionally and in a space, time, and manner that we choose." Naturally, North Korea is still maintaining that it had nothing to do with the attack, calling the accusations "groundless slander."
A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry took things to a new level by saying the country wants to help find the real culprit in a joint investigation with the U.S., adding that there would be "grave consequences" if the White House decides to balk at the offer.
"We propose to conduct a joint investigation with the U.S. in response to groundless slander being perpetrated by the U.S. by mobilizing public opining," the North Korean spokesman said, according to Reuters. "If the U.S. refuses to accept our proposal for a joint investigation and continues to talk about some kind of response by dragging us into the case, it must remember there will be grave consequences."
The evidence shared by the FBI thus far indicates that North Korea acted alone in the cyberattack against Sony. U.S. officials have begun talking with Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia about assisting with efforts to respond to the attack. So far, Japan and South Korea said they would cooperate.
There are some precedents being set here. This is the first time the U.S. has directly accused another country of a cyberattack of this scale on American soil. It's also the first time that a foreign threat has caused the cancellation of a movie debut, as was the case here when Sony decided to cancel the Christmas Debut of "The Interview," an outlandish comedy involving a CIA sanctioned assassination attempt against Kim Jong-un.
A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry took things to a new level by saying the country wants to help find the real culprit in a joint investigation with the U.S., adding that there would be "grave consequences" if the White House decides to balk at the offer.
"We propose to conduct a joint investigation with the U.S. in response to groundless slander being perpetrated by the U.S. by mobilizing public opining," the North Korean spokesman said, according to Reuters. "If the U.S. refuses to accept our proposal for a joint investigation and continues to talk about some kind of response by dragging us into the case, it must remember there will be grave consequences."
The evidence shared by the FBI thus far indicates that North Korea acted alone in the cyberattack against Sony. U.S. officials have begun talking with Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia about assisting with efforts to respond to the attack. So far, Japan and South Korea said they would cooperate.
There are some precedents being set here. This is the first time the U.S. has directly accused another country of a cyberattack of this scale on American soil. It's also the first time that a foreign threat has caused the cancellation of a movie debut, as was the case here when Sony decided to cancel the Christmas Debut of "The Interview," an outlandish comedy involving a CIA sanctioned assassination attempt against Kim Jong-un.
