Following the hack of Sony Pictures last month, there has been much debate over who was responsible; a hacker group called Guardians of Peace have claimed responsibility, and the FBI has suggested that North Korea was involved, but no concrete evidence that points to a particular perpetrator has been made publicly available. Computer security firm Norse think they know, and all signs point to an inside job, by a woman known as ‘Lena’.
Kurt Stammberger, Senior Vice President of Norse, said, “Are there NK fingerprints? Sure. But when we run any of those leads to ground, they end up being dead ends.” Stammberger and his team instead found evidence that a former Sony employee – made redundant during a ruthless clear-out at Sony during March of this year – known as “Lena” is likely the catalyst behind the attack.
“Lena” worked for Sony in Los Angeles for ten years in a “key technical” position, so she would know exactly how to exploit the company’s servers, and “where all the sensitive information in Sony was stored.” She worked with a group of people disgruntled with Sony, according to the Norse investigation, possibly under the banner of Guardians of Peace. Stammberger clarified, “These were individuals that were connected with torrenting Sony movies and content online, were targeted by legal and law enforcement arms, and were irritated that basically they were caught.”
Though Stammberger is confident he and his team are on the right track, he admits that they have nothing concrete, yet: “We have indicators that connect [these suspects] to this attack. It’s a long way from proof,” admitting it is “a long way from something I think you could prosecute someone with.”
Source: Gawker
