TMZ is reporting [1] that studio executives are convinced this was an inside job based on layoffs at Sony that included IT employees. Before you write them off,

TMZ is reporting [1] that studio executives are convinced this was an inside job based on layoffs at Sony that included IT employees. Before you write them off, they've broken several big stories this year, and their sources at movie studios are probably spot on. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. The continuous release of leaked data means the attacker probably had access for a considerable amount of time to completely download the large number of files. My guess is that they had escalated their own access during employment and routinely monitored the communications of executives. This was most likely the work of someone that had or maintained a blackhat past. This is someone that most likely had access to a botnet, knew where to go to buy/download malware (underground forums), and knew how to obscure their connections (and where to directly connect). And if you think about it, posting to Pastebin? Definitely a US-thing, and not so much a Chinese thing. I'm willing to bet this person/people will be caught through old-fashioned profiling. Cross-checking the terminated IT employees with previous convictions for computer crimes, their personal emails with known hacker aliases, and other investigative techniques. [1] http://www.tmz.com/2014/12/17/sony-hack-inside-job-north-korea-investigation/ http://www.tmz.com/2014/12/17/sony-hack-inside-job-north-kor...