US spooks admit hacking North Korea prior to Sony Pictures attack
US spies have conceded for the first time that they have been engaged in hacking computer systems in North Korea after revealing that it was these actions which allowed them to pin the blame for the recent Sony Pictures hack on the hermit kingdom.
Off the record American officials admit that covert espionage of North Korea’s computer systems began in 2010 in a joint exercise with South Korea to test the communist state’s cyber warfare capabilities.
These activities culminated in the National Security Agency planting spyware to gather evidence relating to the secretive Bureau 121, North Korea’s elite hacking unit.
US president Barack Obama subsequently pointed the finger of blame squarely at the North Korean’s for a devastating attack on Sony pictures servers which saw terabytes of data stolen and released to the world.