Guardians of Peace, the hacker group that targeted Sony Pictures over its film, The Interview, has apparently also threatened to hack an unnamed "news media organization," according to a bulletin from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The document, dated December 24, 2014, was first published by The Intercept on Wednesday. The FBI did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment.
Referring to Sony Pictures as USPER1 (US Person 1), the bulletin reads:
"This Joint Intelligence Bulletin (JIB) is intended to provide information on the late-November 2014 cyber intrusion targeting USPER1 and related threats concerning the planned release of the movie, 'The Interview.' Additionally. these threats have extended to USPER2—a news media organization—and may extend to other such organizations in the near future. This JIB is intended to support the activities of the FBI and DHS to assist federal, state and local government, cyber, counterterrorism, and law enforcement officials, first responders, and private sector security partners in effectively deterring, preventing, preempting, or responding to cyber and terrorist attacks against the United States."
Despite the government’s insistence that the attack was perpetrated by North Korea, analysts at Norse Corp., a network security firm that monitors cyber-attacks, believe that the attack on Sony’s network was largely internal.
In a Monday blog post, Norse’s Anthony Freed wrote that the firm had identified at least six possible former employees of Sony who may have been involved in the breach of the network, including one (referred to as "Lena," a name used in the Guardians of Peace e-mails) that had the previous access and technical skills required to steal the data. FBI agents met with the firm on Monday, but came away unimpressed with Norse's analysis, according to Politico.
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