Does anyone know of a single infosec professional (who's talking) who has access to the details of the evidence the FBI summarized in claiming North Korean involvement?
Given this news, maybe the FBI was wrong. But the "professionals" in the doubt squad were mostly just guessing along with the rest of us.
Here's something you might want to consider. Bruce Schneier has said that North Korea probably isn't behind the hack (https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/12/comments_on_t...), but follow his link. He thought North Korea wasn't behind it, because the FBI said so.
His latest post simply points out that the FBI has said North Korea is responsible, without elaboration or contradiction. https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/12/lessons_from_... So while it does not appear that Schneier has reviewed any evidence (what evidence could he review?) and reached his own conclusion, he seems perfectly content to credit the FBI's conclusions.
While not the strongest argument (The absence of an argument is not an argument), I do appreciate you bringing up this nuance which I think is a valid one.
The FBI's assumption is absolutely newsworthy, and I'm glad Schneier reported it, even though he abdicated any judgement either way. You're correct in saying that he does not elaborate or contridict the FBI statement, but it should also be noted that neither does he endorse it. So I am moving Schneier from the "Having doubts" column over to the "ambivalent" column in my mental list.
Thanks for taking the time to provide more information.
And look, I really try not to shout conspiracy at everything.
But the FBI is relatively new to the Cybersecurity game. CNN yesterday was showing "MPAA cyberterrorism experts". The links to DPRK seem tenuous at best.
So in this context, when the organization who blackmailed Martin Luther King says something, I'm going to try to seek independent confirmation.
All the security professionals who I follow on the internet has either expressed doubts or outright disbelief that DPRK is culpable for this attack. Obviously, I'm in a bit of a bubble, so I'm trying to find independent people outside of my circle who agree with the FBI line.
My understanding of FBI cybersecurity is that until very recently, they were primarily responsible for domestic cybercrime.
Responding to "Cyberterrorism", to my knowledge, is something that has happened much more recently.
I, of course, am no expert in this regard, which is why I'm seeking out expert opinons! If you have more info I'd really appreciate having some more stuff I can take a look at.
"Cyberterrorism" existing happened rather recently. In terms of general cybercrime abroad, well, off the top of my head I can think of the Half-Life 2 leak in 2003... And in terms of general infosec chops in the present, the FBI have recently taken down two famous Tor hidden sites.
But of course, this is little more than circumstantial evidence regarding the case at hand.
Given this news, maybe the FBI was wrong. But the "professionals" in the doubt squad were mostly just guessing along with the rest of us.