US to Reveal Evidence of North Korea's Sony Cyber Attack

MOSCOW, December 19 (Sputnik) – On Friday, the US government is planning to reveal its findings on a recent Sony Pictures’ computer attack, which, it claims, was carried out on behalf of North Korean officials, CNN reported.

The public statement is expected to be released on Friday. It will reportedly provide evidence for US conclusions and explain how the country’s intelligence services managed to trace the attack to North Korea.

As previously reported by the New York Times, US officials viewed North Korea as “centrally involved” in the incident. The major American entertainment corporation's plans to release “The Interview”, a movie depicting the assassination of the North Korean leader, has been viewed as a possible motive for the break-in. After hackers threatened further attacks, Sony had to cancel the release of the movie in American theaters.

The hackers managed to obtain secret data from a high-ranking information technology worker, which enabled them to gain access to the entire building, US media reports.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced that the incident is "being treated as a serious national security matter."

According to previous statements by US high-ranking officials, the country’s response could include new sanctions against North Korea; for instance, hitting Chinese banks, which the country has been long cooperating with, cited CNN.