SONY-CYBER SECURITY/ANALYST Cyber security analyst says North Korea attack 'unprecedented'

Record ID: 451746

  • Title: SONY-CYBER SECURITY/ANALYST Cyber security analyst says North Korea attack 'unprecedented'
  • Date: 19th December 2014
  • Summary: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 19, 2014) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, CO-FOUNDER OF CROWDSTRIKE INC., SAYING: "Certainly from a political perspective the Obama administration now has to figure out what is going to be our response to this action because we can't let it stand certainly now that we've named them as being responsible. But, on a practical level, it's not just about North Korea. We've seen destructive attacks from Iran and other countries in the past. So the idea that this can be successful against any organization is really what should be disturbing to every company right now. Boards of Directors and CEOs need to be asking of their team, what are you doing to make sure this doesn't happen to me?"
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA93F0HF5W9SFGO0ADX2SV1F135
  • Story Text: A computer security industry executive says the North Korea cyberattack on Sony Pictures is "unprecedented," as is the U.S. government accusation on Friday (December 19) of another sovereign nation as culpable in large-scale cyberattack on American soil.
    "Today, we have the FBI for the first time ever coming out and naming a nation state as being responsible for a destructive cyberattack against this country. This has never happened before. The second event that's unprecedented is that Sony and the theater chains have actually pulled this movie as a result of a cyber action by a dictatorial regime. So what we have, in effect, is a suppression of free speech here in America because of an action in cyber space by a thug that's running the North Korean state," said Dmitri Alperovitch, the co-founder of CrowdStrike Inc, a cybersecurity firm in suburban Washington.
    The attack on Sony, more than three weeks ago, was conducted by hackers calling themselves "Guardians of Peace." The destructive nature of the attack, and threats from the hackers that led the Hollywood studio to pull a comedy movie depicting the assassination of North Korea's leader, set it apart from previous cyber intrusions, the FBI said.
    "The really disturbing thing here is we now have a precedent. So, it's not just North Korea but every other nation state, hacktivist terrorist group, criminal group has been watching this very carefully and taking notes. They've now seen a blueprint for how you launch a successful attack and bend a victim to your will through an action done purely in cyberspace. And the reality is the attack that was conducted on Sony can be done against any company. Everyone's going to be vulnerable to the same techniques whether you are a government agency, whether you are a financial institution, defense contractor or organization in any other industry," Alperovitch said.
    After the U.S. government blamed Pyongyang for the incident, a North Korean U.N. diplomat said on Friday that North Korea had nothing to do with the devastating cyber attack against Sony Pictures,
    "DPRK (North Korea) is not part of this," a North Korean diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He declined to comment further.
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