The White House’s claim that North Korea is responsible for last month’s cyber attack on Sony has been met with skepticism in recent weeks, but the administration on Monday denied requests to publicly release the evidence implicating Kim Jong Un’s regime in the crime.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest suggested that releasing the evidence collected by the FBI would threaten national security.
“Obviously what they’re dealing with here is something that’s pretty sensitive,” he said. Earnest added that making evidence public would reveal information “to the North Koreans and other bad actors about the techniques that we use to investigate and to attribute these kinds of attacks.”
He said it’s a “tricky business,” and deferred reporters to the FBI for any queries on how releasing evidence might “undermine strategies they use to protect our infrastructure and to investigate intrusions.”
In the weeks since President Obama attributed the Sony hack to North Korea, a number or cybersecurity experts have come forward to suggest the government’s findings are misguided, and that a disgruntled employee or non-state group, may have been ultimately responsible for the hack – not North Korea.
One security firm, Norse, met with the FBI last December in hopes of sharing information about its alternative theory. Although the firm presented its findings, the FBI withheld its evidence pointing directly to Pyongyang. And after the meeting, the FBI said it is standing by its assessment.
Earnest echoed the sentiment on Monday.
“They have come to the conclusion based on the evidence that North Korea was responsible for this and I don’t see any reason to disagree with the conclusions they’ve arrived at,” he said.
Earnest said he “wouldn’t rule out in the future that the FBI could be more transparent with their findings.”
Despite the doubt in the meantime, US actions against North Korea characterized as retaliatory are ongoing.
Over the weekend, the US placed a new round of sanctions on the North Korean defense industry and individuals within the government. Earnest referred to the action as part of a “proportional response” to the Sony attack.
