
John McAfee: 'I know who hacked Sony Pictures – and it wasn't North Korea' - adamnemecek
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/john-mcafee-i-know-who-hacked-sony-pictures-it-wasnt-north-korea-1483581
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xnull1guest
\- The malware used by the group had fingerprints and components of known
Iranian, Korean and Russian malware and is a package sold on black market
forums.

\- The malware used was nearly identical to the that used by the Iranian group
who attacked the Aramco oil company in Saudia Arabia in 2012.

\- Linguistic analysis of the communications by #GOP suggest a native Russian
author.

\- SONY had given the US State Department a preview of The Interview in July
2014 (after the Mundt-Smith anti-propaganda law was immolated) and SONY was
contracting with RAND Corporation specialist Bruce Bennett, a specialist on
nuclear deterrence (NK is a nuclear state) and North Korea.

\- Leaked emails with Bennett have him discussing the effectiveness of the
movie to cause instability in North Korea.

Now McAfee is claiming the group had anti-trust motivations?

The SONY hack gets more and more interesting.

~~~
yongjik
Err... what? Maybe I'm dense, but if you want to cause instability in a
dictatorship, a blatantly Hollywood-style comedy movie where some American
dudes kill the nation's leader in a graphically gruesome fashion is not what
I'd expect. If anything, it will _help_ North Korean propaganda. ("See those
American Imperialists insult our great country! Death to America!")

Besides, how many North Koreans would ever see this movie, anyway?

~~~
fit2rule
If there is anyone in doubt in NK about their glorious leader, seeing this
film may just push them over the edge, knowing that the assassination of their
leader is something that the world wants. Plus, there's more to the movie than
just assassination - its also a reflection of the condition of the North
Korean people, and the constraints placed upon their lives by a repressive
regime. Sometimes all thats needed to push the needle into the red-zone of
revolution is a reminder that things are not always as they seem; while I
personally think its a stupid movie from a purile industry, my opinion doesn't
matter here. The North Korean people have to decide for themselves if they can
do something about their dire circumstances, and what to do.. perhaps this
movie will plant some hints in someones mind, and something will get done
about it.

(Disclaimer: I'm no fan of Hollywood being used as a tool for propaganda
against us by our own imperial, authoritarian masters, either.. its a double-
edged sword..)

------
mkautzm
John McAfee: "I'd really like some more attention please!"

~~~
adamnemecek
I might be naive but I actually somewhat believe him.

------
PhasmaFelis
Last month, Brian Krebs thought there was a good case for North Korea:
[http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/12/the-case-for-n-koreas-
rol...](http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/12/the-case-for-n-koreas-role-in-sony-
hack/)

I haven't followed the story, and I don't know if that's still current. I just
thought it was interesting to see such a big name bucking the current.

~~~
xnull2guest
I think there's a pretty good case that North Korean sympathizers were
involved in the hack. Despite current 'folklore' that the original hacks were
about a ransom this appears to come from early reporting where news headlines
read that data was being held ransom for demands and it was sort of just
assumed to be monetary.

The pastebins and messages from #GOP themselves are concerned about the 'movie
of terrorism' and promised to give a Christmas gift to those following the
leaks. The Christmas gift was leaked email conversations between CEO Lynton
and strategic state specialists and where several mentions are made about the
involvement of the State Department in the analysis of the movie.

To complicate things though the malware used had seen previous use in Iranian
attacks against Saudi oil companies and linguistic analysis suggests that the
author of the #GOP messages was likely a native Russian speaker.

------
anigbrowl
I'm sure I wouldn't believe what happens next.

