WATCH: U.S. intelligence officials explain why they believe North Korea was behind the Sony cyberattack.
TORONTO – American officials have provided more insight into the unprecedented cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Wednesday, going as far as to name the North Korean general who may have ordered the attack.
During a speech at a cybersecurity conference in Manhattan Wednesday, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he suspects his North Korean counterpart General Kim Youn Chol handed down orders for the attack.
TIMELINE: How the Sony hacking scandal unfolded
Clapper explained that if North Korea was behind the attack, Kim would have been the person to authorize it, according to a report by The Daily Beast.
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Kim is a four-star general in charge of the Reconnaissance General Bureau in North Korea – the group Clapper believes may have been behind the hacking scandal.
In a separate speech at the same event, FBI director James Comey reiterated sentiments that North Korea was responsible for the cyber-attack by providing new details about the agency’s investigation into the hack.
According to reports, Comey said the hackers “got sloppy” when masking their IP addresses, allowing investigators to catch the malware attempting to connect directly to a North Korean Internet connection in “at least one instance.”
“We know who hacked Sony, it was the North Koreans,” Comey said, according to reports. “I have very high confidence about this attribution.”
On Dec. 19, the FBI formally accused the North Korean government of the attack, which culminated in Sony cancelling the release of its comedy The Interview days before its release. The film was later released online and in select theatres despite threats of terrorism from the group who took responsibility for hacking Sony.
READ MORE: Who really hacked Sony Pictures? New reports cast doubt on North Korea connection
Some experts have raised doubts about North Korea’s involvement in the attack; however, Comey said those who question the nation’s involvement don’t have all the information the FBI does.
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