US Hacked - A Big Myth Busted

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., the biggest American entertainment subsidiary of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony was forced to cancel the release of $44 million comedy , "The Interview" which was set to hit the screens across USA and Canada on December 25 because of a cyber attack on its servers. The film portrays fictional assassination of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un who wants to destroy Western Civilisation. A couple of theatres had planned to show "Team America: World Police" in its place as a sort of replacement. Not only was it squashed but the video on demand (VOD), which is very popular in US, had also to be withdrawn when an unknown group calling itself "Guardian of Peace" claimed it was behind the cyber attack and they would attack cinemas showing Sony films.

The hackers also released the salary and social security numbers of thousands of Sony employees including celebrities. A number of as yet unreleased films popped up on online download sites. With the F.B.I. on Friday directly accusing the North Korean government of organising the cyber attack and President Obama's remark on Saturday that the United States “will respond proportionally” against North Korea for its destructive cyber attacks, hysteria is officially reaching insane proportions in the United States.

Cyber Security Infrastructure in US post 9/11

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formed post 9/11 is responsible for overseeing the protection of the .gov domain and for providing assistance and expertise to private sector owners and operators of cyber networks. DHS works directly with public and private partners to enhance cyber security specially in the field of Corporate Security Breaches, Spear Phishing, and Social Media Fraud. Its components such as the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have special divisions dedicated to combating cyber crime. The Secret Service maintains Electronic Crimes Task Forces (ECTFs), which focus on identifying and locating international cyber criminals connected to cyber intrusions, bank fraud, data breaches, and other computer-related crimes. The Secret Service also runs the National Computer Forensic Institute, which provides law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges with cyber training and information to combat cyber crime. ICE’s Cyber Crimes Centre (C3) works to prevent cyber crime and solve cyber incidents.

DHS uses intrusion detection tools to monitor .gov network traffic for malicious activity and uses this resulting data to address cyber vulnerabilities. DHS also operates a Cyber Information Coordination Centre, the National Cyber security and Communications Integration Centre (NCCIC), and several operational units. These units respond to incidents and provide technical assistance to information system operators. Official website of DHS states its assistance to the private sector and critical infrastructure efforts to secure their own cyber networks helps in  the nation’s overall cyber security posture. HAS IT FAILED?

Cyber Space  Breached - Myth Busted

Apart from the above mentioned cyber security umbrella under the State , United States houses most of the world's leading cyber security companies dealing in information, data and network security. Yet the breach took place in this highly secured environment and that too of a company who must not have left any stone unturned to secure their servers from potential hack in the present era of uncertainties.

If North Korea is the culprit as pointed out by F.B.I officially, it is a technology marvel demonstrated by a small country with limited skill set and resources compared to the  United States to wage a cyber war. The hackers group calling itself  "Guardian of Peace" who said they were disturbed by the film not only stole documents related to  unreleased films and social security numbers of the employees of Sony Corporation but also with the systematic leaking pattern challenged the  US to reach them. US is not yet clear how to respond to North Korea.

The F.B.I. on Friday directly accused the North Korean government of organising the cyber attack that debilitated Sony Pictures computers, marking the first time the United States has accused the leaders of a foreign nation of sending destructive computer code to strike on American soil. The bureau said that there were significant “similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks” to previous attacks by the North Koreans. It also said that there were classified elements of the evidence against the North that they could not reveal. Bureau also discovered that several Internet Protocol addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with I.P. addresses that were hard-coded into the data deletion malware used in this attack. Only time will tell if US will be able to collect forensic evidence to take action against North Korea. The Sony attack was not a Denial of Services Attack (DOS Attack) and hence  sophisticated. It wiped data off Sony’s computer systems, rendering them inoperable. “The cyber attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment was not just an attack against a company and its employees,” Jeh C. Johnson, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. “It was also an attack on our freedom of expression and way of life.”

Jim Lewis, a senior fellow with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies  said, "Nobody has ever done any anything this balatant in terms of political manipulation. This is a new high". How badly the psyche of US has been hurt and the myth of being impregnable busted can be summed up from the Twitter post of former Republican House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich, "With the Sony collapse, America has lost its first cyber war: This is very, very dangerous precedent." By not releasing the movie in any form, was Sony protecting the interest of the investors since they won't be hacked again and was there any insider helping out the hackers needs to be proved which will add yet another dimension  to this complex situation.

Implications and Fallouts

This is the first time an infrastructure within US has been hacked by an impoverished   state like North Korea to demonstrate their non-conventional capabilities like cyber warfare. They are also making headway in the field of nuclear technology. LA Times has reported that with " The  Interview" controversy brewing, North Korea has launched three short-range missiles into the sea on Thursday. This show of  strength in the past would have been considered too provocative by the US and invited actions but this time the White House commented their response would come “in a place and time and manner that we choose.”

With the confidence gained North Korea may venture soon into its long term goal to develop cyber capabilities to cripple telecom and energy grids in rival nations. Their ultimate goal to attack the computer systems controlling critical infrastructure in South Korea and United States will suddenly get a boost. Like-minded countries getting close to take on the might of US may lead to escalation in tensions already existing  in this part of the world. US sanctions against many countries may get stronger. China which patronises the  present regime is likely to be dragged into this controversy sooner or later.

Last week after this incident came to light we have seen unprecedented reactions from the head of a state, head of a company considered to be the biggest in the entertainment industry, spokespersons of various agencies like F.B.I and the Homeland Security coming with facts to prove their claims. What is not yet clear and may remain hidden for ever is were any other nation state involved in it, was there hackers with  money-making motive  involved, was there any hacker with revenge as a motive involved and finally what was the role of elite hacking Unit121 of North Korea's General Bureau of Reconnaissance in this whole episode.

Conclusion

Secretive nation North Korea's ability to wage cyber warfare has come to the forefront in an unexpected manner and so is the fallout from the said hack escalating. Once the storm raised by the hack settles down at the national level the embarrassing content of the leaks related to individuals of repute is further going to play havoc since lot of this data is related to their personal  life. North Korea is going to train itself more on this newly acquired skill of theirs with a changed vision of destroying infrastructure of rival countries and will certainly try to ally like minded  nations to become a reckoning force in the future. US at the same time is preparing options to strike North Korea and will act once it is approved at the highest level. What an irony- it has just turned around hostile ties with Cuba after many decades of hostilities.

The author is Senior Fellow at CLAWS. Views expressed are personal.