White House Defends New Sanctions On North Korea Against Growing Number Of Critics

The Obama administration on Friday slapped new sanctions on North Korea in response to the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment (NYSE:SNE). However, the response to the decision has been a two-pronged criticism.

Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) publicly blamed the dictatorial regime for the cyber attack, many private security analysts have questioned whether North Korea was even responsible for the hack. However, the White House described the new sanctions as retaliation against Pyongyang, whom they are certain was responsible.

“We take seriously North Korea’s attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a U.S. company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement. “As the president has said, our response to North Korea’s attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment will be proportional, and will take place at a time and in a manner of our choosing. Today’s actions are the first aspect of our response.”

The sanctions, which were outlined in an executive order signed by President Obama, authorized broad sanctions against agencies and officials associated with the North Korean regime, specifically names the Workers’ Party of Korea.

In the order, President Obama said it was a response to North Korea’s “provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies … including its destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December 2014.”

Further, the U.S. Treasury Department designated three government-tied entities and 10 North Korean officials eligible under the sanctions, which would deny them access to the U.S. financial system, restrict travel and flat-out bar them from entering the United States.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement that the new sanctions on Pyongyang will “further isolate key North Korean entities and disrupt the activities of close to a dozen critical North Korean operatives.”

However, Treasury did not specifically name North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but notably designated representatives of the government currently stationed in Russia, Iran and Syria (among others) for diplomatic business.

“We will continue to use this broad and powerful tool to expose the activities of North Korean government officials and entities,” Lew added.

In what is a more bold move, the sanctions finger Pyongyang’s primary intelligence organization, the primary arms dealer associated with them and an organization that sells and procures technology known as the Korea Tangun Trading Corporation.

Private cybersecurity firm have become more vocal over their doubts that North Korea was behind the attack. For instance, experts from the firm Norse earlier in the week briefed the FBI with “raw data” that suggested the attack was an inside job perpetrated by former Sony employees, according to Norse’s senior vice president for market development, Kurt Stammberger.

Stammberger cited data from the malware used in the attack that revealed “super, super detailed insider information” that only a Sony insider would have. The growing criticism comes after a report, citing a former Sony employee, claimed there is a “growing consensus that North Korea wasn’t responsible.”

The FBI, who told PPD in early December they believed North Korean-backed hackers were responsible, are defending the results of an investigation they say uncovered a “significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. government has previously linked directly to North Korea,” specifically various IP addresses with “known North Korean infrastructure” that communicated with IP addresses “hardcoded” into the malware used by the Sony hackers.

When further pressed, the FBI was unwavering in their conclusion.

“The FBI has concluded the Government of North Korea is responsible for the theft and destruction of data on the network of Sony Pictures Entertainment,” the FBI added in a statement. “Attribution to North Korea is based on intelligence from the FBI, the U.S. intelligence community, DHS, foreign partners and the private sector.”

“There is no credible information to indicate that any other individual is responsible for this cyber incident.”

Nevertheless, even if it was a certainty that Pyongyang was responsible for the cyber attack, it is unclear whether or not the new sanctions on North Korea would have any real impact. The regime is already the subject of many other U.S. sanctions as a result of its nuclear program, and according to Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a number of those targeted by the new order are already subject to sanctions.

Royce called for stronger measures if the White House is certain they were behind the attack.

“It’s good to see the Administration challenging North Korea’s latest aggression – cyber attacks that can do grave damage,” Rep. Royce said in a statement. “But many of the North Koreans blacklisted today have already been targeted by U.S. sanctions. We need to go further to sanction those financial institutions in Asia and beyond that are supporting the brutal and dangerous North Korean regime, as was done in 2005. “

Ironically, “The Interview” earned over $15 million in online sales and another $2.8 million in theaters in the opening weekend, which was roughly the same amount it was expected to earn in a full release, making it Sony Pictures’ No. 1 online movie of all time..