Fingers pointing at US for North Korea's Internet outage

TOKYO -- Various signs support the growing speculation that the U.S. was behind North Korea's recent inability to connect to the Internet, which could have been the first cyberattack ever allowed under international law.

     Earlier, Sony Pictures Entertainment's computer systems were hacked, in what the U.S. government alleged was retaliation for the studio's production of a movie about a fictitious plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang's Internet connection has been spotty since last Friday, but Washington has declined to comment on whether it was responsible.

     There are three indications that a U.S. government agency was behind a cyberattack on North Korea. First, U.S. President Barack Obama said at a news conference last Friday that the U.S. "will respond proportionally" to the cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

     Back in spring 2013, NATO drew up the Tallinn Manual, a study that concluded that international law pertaining to war applies to cyberwarfare. Under the law of war, nations that are attacked are allowed to strike back proportionally in terms of damage suffered. Obama's remark could be interpreted as suggesting that the U.S. would retaliate with a cyberattack based on this principle of proportionality.

     Second, the U.S. FBI concluded last Friday that the cyberattack on the U.S. originated in North Korea. In such conflicts, the party attacked usually does not reveal that it has identified the culprit because it would tip off the adversary, which could then change their tactics or choose a new avenue of aggression. That it named North Korea is a sign that the U.S. seeks the international community's recognition that its cyberattack was justified.

     Third, the U.S. is deeply angered, as can be seen in Obama's remark that the response will come "in a place and time and manner that we choose." Following the terrorist attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaida on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. persistently hunted down the group's leader, Osama bin Laden, killing him 10 years later. In the U.S., Republican Party-led administrations are generally perceived as more hawkish on national security than Democratic Party regimes. But recent Democratic administrations, including Obama's, have also taken a firm stance in national defense.

     The international hacker group Anonymous launched a cyberattack on North Korea in April 2013, so there is a possibility that it is behind the recent Internet outage there. Still, since Obama had promised a proportional response, the U.S. is certain to retaliate one way or another.