US: No alternate leads in Sony hack

A briefing for FBI agents investigating the Sony Pictures hack by a security firm that says its research points to laid-off Sony staff, not North Korea, as the perpetrator provided no usable new evidence. The news that the FBI had taken the three-hour briefing added to the chorus of well-qualified skeptics who said the unprecedented decision to release details of an ongoing FBI investigation and President Barack Obama publicly blaming North Korea hasn’t convinced the cybersecurity community.

Apparently, after the three-hour meeting, law enforcement concluded that the company’s analysis “did not improve the knowledge of the investigation.” “The FBI has concluded the government of North Korea is responsible for the theft and destruction of data on the network of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Attribution to North Korea is based on intelligence from the FBI, the US intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, foreign partners and the private sector,” an FBI spokeswoman said. “There is no credible information to indicate that any other individual is responsible for this cyber incident.”

[Dec 29]