Conspiracy Theory

[herb]

I don't think the hacker group LizardSquad has anything to do with North Korea, and it sounds like they don't even exist anymore due to the heroic efforts of The Finest Squad.

http://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-s ... ox-2014-12

Apparently LS was a gang of bored teenager nerds who didn't have (couldn't get) girlfriends.

You couldn't make this shit up.

[Strangelove]

Maybe, maybe not.

There are many various hacker groups, some of them are owned and operated by various governments.

A few of the biggest + baddest have been tied to North Korea (I think that Times article mentions Dark Seoul).

Bottom line:

The Americans have determined that North Korea has been messing with American freedom of expression.

And making terrorist threats to their citizens.

This is a big deal, everyone is watching to see how America responds.

[BurningBeard]

There are more than a few nations (including Korea) who could take down American power grids.

Okay Beard, you tell me.

What is this "Obama fear of retaliation from North Korea" of which the Times article speaks.

I think Zetter's summary of events is a lot more even handed. It is a very good read.

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-o ... k-is-thin/

I personally believe the "responsible party" is up for debate. State sponsored by North Korea? Ehh... maybe.

I would like to see what the actual "official" evidence is.

I will repeat that bringing down a power grid is a lot more complicated then thoroughly infiltrating a private company (Sony). Or DDoSing a Swedish internet provider (your other example). These are activities that could realistically be performed by an independent hacking group of some sort.

The Struxnet worm is an example of something that needed a group of dedicated, devoted individuals working together over a long period of time, and likely with significant financial support. That is probably the closest thing there ever has been to direct state sponsorship of a weaponized piece of code. Something like that could realistically be engineered to attempt to bring down a power plant, through a coordinated effort. I haven't seen evidence that North Korea, Iran, or China has those capabilities yet.

[Topper]

Give The Interview to Pirate Bay

[Strangelove]

I think Zetter's summary of events is a lot more even handed. It is a very good read.

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-o ... k-is-thin/

Twas a good read, but did you catch the update:

Update at 8p.m. 12/18/14: Minutes after we published this story examining the known evidence for and against North Korea as the source of the hack, The New York Times and other media outlets announced that the U.S. administration was ready to conclude North Korea was involved in the Sony hack. We have updated the story with this new information.

Distinguishing between all of these can be impossible unless you’re an intelligence agency like the NSA, with vast reach into computers around the world, and can uncover evidence about attribution in ways that law enforcement agents legally cannot.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna hafta just trust the NSA on this one bro.

Too much of a coincidence that North Korea was hellbent on stopping this movie's release from Day One.

Funniest thing EVER: A nation declares a slacker comedy movie "an act of war"!!

Even funnier would be: Jong-un assassinated for having the worst sense of humour in the history of mankind.

Hey, who knows where this could lead amirite?

His outrage + revenge taken over a comedy about his assassination results in his actual assassination!


Hey Kimmy, we all gotta go sometime lil dude.

I will repeat that bringing down a power grid is a lot more complicated then thoroughly infiltrating a private company (Sony).

I haven't seen evidence that North Korea, Iran, or China has those capabilities yet.

yet

[Strangelove]

Give The Interview to Pirate Bay

Well I dunno about THAT but no matter how good/shitty it is, it's destined to become a cult classic now.

NICE WORK NORTH KOREA!!

Maybe you should hire someone with a sense of humour to teach you how this shit works!

[BurningBeard]

I think I'm gonna hafta just trust the NSA on this one.

I'm just saying, not sure I believe the NSA on this one yet. Although they've been the bastions of truth in the past, so I'm not sure why I have any doubt.

This, to me, doesn't look like a military grade attack:

[Strangelove]

"reason"... "pretext"... whatever dude.

Time to knock North Korea down a few pegs.

[Strangelove]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12 ... ck-formal/

WASHINGTON – The U.S. investigation into the recent hacking attack at Sony Pictures Entertainment has turned up evidence that does not point to North Korea as the "sole entity" in the case, but rather, raises the possibility that Iran, China or Russia may have been involved, an intelligence source told Fox News on Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, Fox News confirmed that the FBI is pointing a digital finger at North Korea for the attack.

The source pointed to the sophistication of malware “modules or packets” that destroyed the Sony systems -- on a level that has not been seen from North Korea in the past -- but has been seen from Iran, China and Russia.

“Given the destructive efforts or effects of this attack, we're treating this as a national security matter, and as such, members of the president's national security team have been in regular meetings regarding this attack,” State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Yeah I'm sticking with North Korea + a little help from their friends in China.

[BurningBeard]

Time to knock North Korea down a few pegs.

[Strangelove]

^^^ 53 second mark.

[Strangelove]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/sony-cyber ... -1.2878243

U.S. 'would lose' cyberwar

"If we do something to the North Koreans and they do another cyberattack, what do we do then? Do we start a war with them?" he said. The U.S. is not in a position to defend itself, said Jim Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "We would lose."

Cyber defence systems in the private and public sectors are better than they were a decade ago, but they aren't strong enough yet to withstand attacks against major infrastructure, he said.

I agree with this dude.

[BurningBeard]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/sony-cyber ... -1.2878243

U.S. 'would lose' cyberwar

"If we do something to the North Koreans and they do another cyberattack, what do we do then? Do we start a war with them?" he said. The U.S. is not in a position to defend itself, said Jim Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "We would lose."

Cyber defence systems in the private and public sectors are better than they were a decade ago, but they aren't strong enough yet to withstand attacks against major infrastructure, he said.

I agree with this dude.

I think North Korea just hacked itself in a display of how much power they have over the United States.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/12/22 ... ony-hacks/

[Strangelove]

[BurningBeard]