Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Sony to Officially Name North Korea as Source of Hack Attack

Sony will say the Hermit Kingdom hacked it.

GlebStock / Shutterstock

Sony Pictures will officially name North Korea as the source of a hacking attack that has exposed sensitive files and brought down its corporate network last week, two sources close to the investigation tell Re/code. An announcement could come as soon as today.

Details of what Sony and the security firm Mandiant will announce are still being finalized. But the sources confirm that North Korea will be named as the source of the attack.

A Sony spokeswoman declined to comment on the timing or the news, but said “The investigation continues into this very sophisticated cyber attack.”

Re/code first reported on Nov. 28 Sony was investigating the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea was behind an attack.

Launched last week, the attack forced employees of the movie studio to shut down computers and work with pen and paper. Later, sensitive files including employee salary data, product plans and video files of five motion pictures were leaked to the Internet.

The announcement will be the first public acknowledgement of what has so far been only a matter of conjecture. North Korea has sought to stop Sony from releasing a film called “The Interview” that depicts two American TV journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Update (11:52 a.m. PT): Adds Sony statement.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

See More:

More in Technology

Future Perfect
The 5 most unhinged revelations from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAIThe 5 most unhinged revelations from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI
Future Perfect

The Musk v. OpenAI trial is over. Here are the receipts.

By Sara Herschander
Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady