Experts Find Korean Parallels In Sony Hack, Country Diplomat Denies

Striking similarities have been found between the code used in the hack of Sony Pictures and the attacks blamed on North Korea that targeted South Korean companies and government agencies in 2013, according to The Financial Express. 

However, according to a North Korean diplomat, the blame on his country was a "fabrication." "My country publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy," the diplomat said according to TIME. 

Sony Pictures and F.B.I. are seeking more information about the attack. The studio said in a statement that a news report by technology site Re/code, which stated that North Korea has been identified as the source of the attack was "not accurate." 

Sony Pictures was hit by hackers last week that resulted in a companywide computer shutdown and the leak of corporate information. The malware also overrode all data on hard drives of computers including master boot record - preventing them from booting up. 

"The overwriting of the data files will make it extremely difficult and costly, if not impossible, to recover the data using standard forensic methods," the report said according to NYT.

A Sony spokeswoman said the company had "restored a number of important services" and was "working closely with law enforcement officials to investigate the matter."

A group that has taken the credit of attacks calls itself "Guardians of Peace." 

According to some reports the attack is tied to one of Sony's coming movies, "The Interview," a comedy about two American tabloid TV journalists assigned to assassinate the North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. North Korean officials have been particularly critical of the film.