Sony is set to officially name North Korea as the source of the recent cyber attack which has exposed massive volumes of internal company data and shut down its computer systems for a week. The results of an investigation into the attack, currently being carried out by FireEye's Mandiant forensics unit, are expected to be announced later this week. On Wednesday, two unnamed sources close to the investigation told Re/code that the tools used by the hackers are similar to those used in attacks conducted against South Korea by North Korea. Culprit? Sony is set to name North Korea as the source of the recent cyber attack which has exposed massive volumes of internal company data and shut down its computer systems for a week . There has been speculation that the attack could be payback on Sony for The Interview, a Seth Rogan and James Franco movie about a plot to kill the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong Un, that is out on Christmas Day. Earlier this week, a North Korean spokesperson refused to deny claims that it was behind the move and would only say 'wait and see' when asked if Pyongyang was involved. 'The hostile forces are relating everything to the DPRK (North Korea). I kindly advise you to just wait and see,' a spokesman for North Korea's U.N. mission. North Korea routinely refers to the United States and South Korea as hostile forces. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the incident. A North Korean spokesperson said 'wait and see' on Monday when asked if Pyongyang was involved in the attack on Sony just a month before its planned release of The Interview, staring James Franco and Seth Rogan . Launched last week, the attack forced employees of the movie studio to shut down computers and work with pen and paper. Later, sensitive files including employee salary data, product plans and video files of five motion pictures - including the remake of Annie and Brad Pitt's critically acclaimed World War Two movie, Fury - were leaked to the internet. Personnel information including staff salaries and personal emails were also leaked. North Korea complained to the United Nations in June about The Interview, accusing the United States of sponsoring terrorism and committing an act of war by allowing production of the movie. The Pyongyang government denounced the film as 'undisguised sponsoring of terrorism, as well as an act of war' in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Cars enter Sony Pictures Entertainment headquarters in Culver City, California. A cybersecurity expert has raised the possibility that the cyberattack on Sony Pictures was not the work of North Korea . 'I personally don't care if (the movie's) disrespectful to Kim because he's evil. But that's not the intent,' tweeted Rogen on Sunday. 'North Korea has produced tons of propaganda films that portray America's destruction.' But cybersecurity expert Hemanshu Nigam has told the Hollywood Reporter that he finds it hard to believe that North Korea is the perpetrator and instead thinks it is more probable that it was the actions of an employee or ex-employee with administrative access privileges. For the studio - which has laid off hundreds of employees over the past year in an effort to contain costs - the possibility of a disgruntled employee wreaking havoc is very real. 'If terabytes of data left the Sony networks, their network detection systems would have noticed easily,' said Nigam. 'It would also take months for a hacker to figure out the topography of the Sony networks to know where critical assets are stored and to have access to the decryption keys needed to open up the screeners that have been leaked.' Sony workers saw a message appear on computer screens saying 'Hacked by #GOP' - understood to be the initials of a group called Guardians of Peace which has been linked to North Korea . In addition, he said, 'It is possible that North Korean-sponsored hackers were working with someone on the inside. But it is more likely a ruse to shift blame, knowing the distaste the North Korean regime has for Sony Pictures.' Sony Pictures' computer system went down last Monday after the cyber attack. Before . screens went dark, they displayed a red skull and the phrase . 'Hacked By #GOP,' which reportedly stands for Guardians of . Peace. The hackers also warned they . would release 'secrets' stolen from Sony. The data released so far from the apparently leaked documents has already been damaging - it revealed all the top executives at Sony Pictures Entertainment are white and male, raising questions about control of Hollywood's film output. Staff at Sony are growing increasingly disgruntled about the never-ending slew of Adam Sandler movies the company is producing . Staff at Sony are growing increasingly disgruntled about the never-ending slew of Adam Sandler movies the company is producing, according to information released following last week’s cyber attack. An un-encrypted text file titled ‘Sony_2012_Comments’ has been released which features a long list of negative employee feedback – and Sandler’s name is a reoccurring theme. The comedian’s company, Happy Madison Productions, has been responsible for 25 films released by Sony over the past 15 years including Click, I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Grown Ups and 50 First Dates. These movies turn a profit but are shown little love from the critics and from Sony staff it would appear. Here are some of the comments featured in the leaked document: . Other criticism from staff was equally as cutting even if the target wasn't quite so specific: . Sandler movies such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry regularly turn a profit for Sony but rarely win over the critics or staff a leaked memo has revealed . A spreadsheet said to show the salaries of 6,000 Sony Pictures employees, including top executives, reveals that of 17 earning $1 million or more a year, just two are not white and just one is a woman. The list was leaked to a reporter at news and pop culture site Fusion. Kevin Roose, reporting for Fusion, who was sent a link to the data by an anonymous source, said: 'When I sorted the list by 'annual rate,' I noticed something notable: a stark homogeneity among the people earning the most. 'Based on the spreadsheet ... the employees of Sony Pictures with the highest annual rates appear to be nearly entirely white men.' Amy B. Pascal, co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of SPE's Motion Picture Group, is the only woman among the top 17 most-highly paid executives. Minority of one: Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Amy Pascal, the only woman earning more than $1million a year at the company, and chief executive officer of Sony Entertainment Michael Lynton . Leaked: Five of Sony's movies including the hotly anticipated remake of Annie have been illegally shared online in recent days . She earns £3million a year, according to the spreadsheet, joint highest on the list, along with Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton. Buzzfeed reviewed almost 40GB of leaked internal data and reported it included 'employee criminal background checks, salary negotiations, and doctors' letters explaining the medical rationale for leaves of absence.' It reported the files also included a script for an unreleased pilot written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan as well as 'email exchanges with employees regarding specific medical treatments they are undergoing, while one disciplinary letter details a manager's romantic relationship and business travel history with a subordinate.' It even details the leaked information includes an email about the breastfeeding diet of a senior executive. In addition to Annie, starring Jamie Foxx, which is due to hit theaters on December 19, Brad Pitt's critically acclaimed World War Two movie, Fury, is also being openly traded and downloaded online. By Sunday morning, Fury, which is still playing in theaters, had been downloaded 1.2 million times and Annie had been downloaded 206,000 times from unique IP addresses, according to Variety. Other Sony movies being downloaded include Mr. Turner, Still Alice and To Write Love on Her Arms.
Investigation has found tools used by the hackers are similar to those used in attacks conducted by North Korea against South Korea .
Cyber attack has exposed massive volumes of Sony's internal company data and shut down its computer systems for a week .
Speculation that attack could be payback for The Interview, Seth Rogan's movie about a plot to kill the reclusive state's leader Kim Jong Un .
Sony is set to officially name North Korea as the source of the recent cyber attack which has exposed massive volumes of internal company data and shut down its computer systems for a week. The results of an investigation into the attack, currently being carried out by FireEye's Mandiant forensics unit, are expected to be announced later this week. On Wednesday, two unnamed sources close to the investigation told Re/code that the tools used by the hackers are similar to those used in attacks conducted against South Korea by North Korea. Culprit? Sony is set to name North Korea as the source of the recent cyber attack which has exposed massive volumes of internal company data and shut down its computer systems for a week . There has been speculation that the attack could be payback on Sony for The Interview, a Seth Rogan and James Franco movie about a plot to kill the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong Un, that is out on Christmas Day. Earlier this week, a North Korean spokesperson refused to deny claims that it was behind the move and would only say 'wait and see' when asked if Pyongyang was involved. 'The hostile forces are relating everything to the DPRK (North Korea). I kindly advise you to just wait and see,' a spokesman for North Korea's U.N. mission. North Korea routinely refers to the United States and South Korea as hostile forces. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the incident. A North Korean spokesperson said 'wait and see' on Monday when asked if Pyongyang was involved in the attack on Sony just a month before its planned release of The Interview, staring James Franco and Seth Rogan . Launched last week, the attack forced employees of the movie studio to shut down computers and work with pen and paper. Later, sensitive files including employee salary data, product plans and video files of five motion pictures - including the remake of Annie and Brad Pitt's critically acclaimed World War Two movie, Fury - were leaked to the internet. Personnel information including staff salaries and personal emails were also leaked. North Korea complained to the United Nations in June about The Interview, accusing the United States of sponsoring terrorism and committing an act of war by allowing production of the movie. The Pyongyang government denounced the film as 'undisguised sponsoring of terrorism, as well as an act of war' in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Cars enter Sony Pictures Entertainment headquarters in Culver City, California. A cybersecurity expert has raised the possibility that the cyberattack on Sony Pictures was not the work of North Korea . 'I personally don't care if (the movie's) disrespectful to Kim because he's evil. But that's not the intent,' tweeted Rogen on Sunday. 'North Korea has produced tons of propaganda films that portray America's destruction.' But cybersecurity expert Hemanshu Nigam has told the Hollywood Reporter that he finds it hard to believe that North Korea is the perpetrator and instead thinks it is more probable that it was the actions of an employee or ex-employee with administrative access privileges. For the studio - which has laid off hundreds of employees over the past year in an effort to contain costs - the possibility of a disgruntled employee wreaking havoc is very real. 'If terabytes of data left the Sony networks, their network detection systems would have noticed easily,' said Nigam. 'It would also take months for a hacker to figure out the topography of the Sony networks to know where critical assets are stored and to have access to the decryption keys needed to open up the screeners that have been leaked.' Sony workers saw a message appear on computer screens saying 'Hacked by #GOP' - understood to be the initials of a group called Guardians of Peace which has been linked to North Korea . In addition, he said, 'It is possible that North Korean-sponsored hackers were working with someone on the inside. But it is more likely a ruse to shift blame, knowing the distaste the North Korean regime has for Sony Pictures.' Sony Pictures' computer system went down last Monday after the cyber attack. Before . screens went dark, they displayed a red skull and the phrase . 'Hacked By #GOP,' which reportedly stands for Guardians of . Peace. The hackers also warned they . would release 'secrets' stolen from Sony. The data released so far from the apparently leaked documents has already been damaging - it revealed all the top executives at Sony Pictures Entertainment are white and male, raising questions about control of Hollywood's film output. Staff at Sony are growing increasingly disgruntled about the never-ending slew of Adam Sandler movies the company is producing . Staff at Sony are growing increasingly disgruntled about the never-ending slew of Adam Sandler movies the company is producing, according to information released following last week’s cyber attack. An un-encrypted text file titled ‘Sony_2012_Comments’ has been released which features a long list of negative employee feedback – and Sandler’s name is a reoccurring theme. The comedian’s company, Happy Madison Productions, has been responsible for 25 films released by Sony over the past 15 years including Click, I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Grown Ups and 50 First Dates. These movies turn a profit but are shown little love from the critics and from Sony staff it would appear. Here are some of the comments featured in the leaked document: . Other criticism from staff was equally as cutting even if the target wasn't quite so specific: . Sandler movies such as I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry regularly turn a profit for Sony but rarely win over the critics or staff a leaked memo has revealed . A spreadsheet said to show the salaries of 6,000 Sony Pictures employees, including top executives, reveals that of 17 earning $1 million or more a year, just two are not white and just one is a woman. The list was leaked to a reporter at news and pop culture site Fusion. Kevin Roose, reporting for Fusion, who was sent a link to the data by an anonymous source, said: 'When I sorted the list by 'annual rate,' I noticed something notable: a stark homogeneity among the people earning the most. 'Based on the spreadsheet ... the employees of Sony Pictures with the highest annual rates appear to be nearly entirely white men.' Amy B. Pascal, co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairman of SPE's Motion Picture Group, is the only woman among the top 17 most-highly paid executives. Minority of one: Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Amy Pascal, the only woman earning more than $1million a year at the company, and chief executive officer of Sony Entertainment Michael Lynton . Leaked: Five of Sony's movies including the hotly anticipated remake of Annie have been illegally shared online in recent days . She earns £3million a year, according to the spreadsheet, joint highest on the list, along with Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton. Buzzfeed reviewed almost 40GB of leaked internal data and reported it included 'employee criminal background checks, salary negotiations, and doctors' letters explaining the medical rationale for leaves of absence.' It reported the files also included a script for an unreleased pilot written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan as well as 'email exchanges with employees regarding specific medical treatments they are undergoing, while one disciplinary letter details a manager's romantic relationship and business travel history with a subordinate.' It even details the leaked information includes an email about the breastfeeding diet of a senior executive. In addition to Annie, starring Jamie Foxx, which is due to hit theaters on December 19, Brad Pitt's critically acclaimed World War Two movie, Fury, is also being openly traded and downloaded online. By Sunday morning, Fury, which is still playing in theaters, had been downloaded 1.2 million times and Annie had been downloaded 206,000 times from unique IP addresses, according to Variety. Other Sony movies being downloaded include Mr. Turner, Still Alice and To Write Love on Her Arms.
and shut down its computer systems for a week. that the tools used by the hackers are similar to those used in attacks conducted against South cyber attack which has exposed massive volumes of internal company data and shut down its computer that the attack could be payback on Sony for The about a plot to kill the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong Un, that is out on Christmas