I'm still not convinced it was North Korea. http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/2/7482105/us-hits-north-korea-with-sanctions-over-sony-pictures-hack Bruce Schneier and Brian Krebs are skeptical, too. We'll likely never know, though.
So we know that it was Ex Sony Employees, but it's still North Korea... Mmkay...NEOCON's playing psyops again.
Well, an independent security firm said it was most likely an ex-Sony employee. The next step would of course be to carry out a proper investigation on this person... Which probably isn't going to happen, since the FBI has already made up its mind that North Korea carried out the hack.
The US still has not been able to provide North Korea with proof that it was them that did this. Will the US be sanctioned as well if they were found to have attacked their 3G Internet Network..?
I don't believe the U.S. is under obligation to provide any proof to North Korea in order to convince them. And being unable or unwilling to provide it to North Korea are two different things. The only concern North Korea has is whether the U.S. is convinced they did it.
The issue is whether the US's conviction is based on irrefutable proof or is simply motivated by a political agenda? Right now it would seem to be the latter.
The recent declaration of the "end of combat operations in Afghanistan" is bad for defense industry stock. Sabre rattling aimed at North Korea is good for defense industry stock.
Then why are we placing sanctions on them over this? If we are the "good guys"* we should not be doing this without proof. * we are not.
I'm not so sure about that. Afghanistan didn't drive acquisition of ships, submarines, next-gen bombers, or many of the super-expensive, high-tech boondoggles that excite Boeing and Lockheed-Martin shareholders. In fact, the "end of combat operations in Afghanistan" will likely free-up more tax dollars for those über-expensive systems.