FBI Says No Way To Stop Sony Hackers

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) - An FBI cybersecurity expert says Sony was almost powerless to stop the hackers that leaked sensitive information about the studio, its employees and actors, reports CNet.

In fact, preventing such a massive cyberattack would be almost impossible for any company.

'The malware that was used would have gotten past 90 percent of the Net defenses that are out there today in private industry and (would be) likely to challenge even state government,' Joe Demarest, told a Senate panel on cybersecurity and the finance industry.

A group calling itself the Guardians of Peace breached Sony Pictures' computer systems on November 24.

Circumstantial evidence suggests North Korea may have been behind the cyberattack; the malware is similar to a hacking attack by North Korea against South Korean media companies and banks in 2013.

But Demarist, the assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's cyberdivision, cautioned that the bureau had yet to trace who was behind the attack.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)