FBI Director says Sony hackers “got sloppy,” exposed North Korea connection

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey reiterated the FBI's confidence that North Korea was involved in the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

While the Sony attackers had largely concealed their identity by using proxy servers, Director Comey said that on several occasions they "got sloppy" and connected directly, revealing their own IP address. It was those slip-ups, he said, that provided evidence linking North Korea to the attack on Sony's network. Director Comey also said that analysts at the FBI found the patterns of writing and other identifying data from the attack matched previous attacks attributed to North Korea. Additionally, there was other evidence, Director Comey said, that he could not share publicly.