U.S. spy agency has breached N. Korean computer networks since 2010: NYT

The trail that led U.S. President Barack Obama to points an accusing finger with strong confidence at North Korea for the cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November winds back to 2010, when the U.S. National Security Agency broke into the North`s computer systems with help from South Korea and other countries.

The U.S. government had taken a very cautious attitude when mentioning masterminds of hacking attacks. Regarding the Sony hack, however, Obama strongly claimed that the North was behind the cyber attack, saying he "had no doubt."

Citing a newly disclosed NSA document and accounts by former diplomats and intelligence officials, the New York Times reported Sunday that the United States "placed malware that could track the internal workings of many of the computers and networks used by the North’s hackers" in 2010.

"Spurred by growing concern about North Korea’s maturing capabilities, the American spy agency drilled into the Chinese networks that connect North Korea to the outside world, picked through connections in Malaysia favored by North Korean hackers and penetrated directly into the North with the help of South Korea and other American allies," the New York Times reported. The malware was placed into the Reconnaissance General Bureau and its hacking unit Bureau 121 of North Korea.

The daily said that the evidence gathered by the NSA proved critical in persuading President Obama to accuse the North Korean government ordering the Sony attack. Earlier this year, Obama issued an intensive executive order authorizing comprehensive sanctions on North Korea’s development of nuclear/missile programs, human rights abuse and cyber terrorism.

"The (U.S.) government spends billions of dollars on the technology, which was crucial to the American and Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear program," the paper reported.