North Korean government continues to deny it was behind the cyberattacks on the Sony Pictures Entertainment network that led to leaks of employee social security numbers and executives’ salaries. However, the international pariah’s media arm is leaving open the possibility that its non-affiliated supporters may have carried out the attacks.

A report published Sunday by North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said the cyberattack “might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers,” Reuters reported. North Korea also blamed South Korea for spreading the “false rumor” that North was involved and suggested the Guardians of Peace, the hacking group that claimed responsibility for the Sony attacks, were one of many supporters of the staunchly Communist nation.

North Korea’s latest denials comes just days after one of its diplomats flatly denied the country’s responsibility in a statement to Voice of America.

Reuters cited a former senior U.S. intelligence official who believes that “North Korea has historically been truthful … about its involvement in attacks,” but may have strayed from that policy under current leader Kim Jong Un, who has been in power for about three years. The official said North Korea has the capacity to carry out a cyberattack, with South Korea being the likely target.

Forensics experts retained by Sony are saying the data breach was likely carried out by a well-organized group, Reuters reported. The Nov. 24 attack crippled the Sony’s network for over a week and led to a release of “employee salaries and Social Security numbers along with high-quality digital versions of several unreleased films,” according to Reuters.

North Korea’s is thought to be prime suspect because of its hostility regarding Sony Pictures’ upcoming film “The Interview” stars James Franco and Seth Rogen as fictional assassins of Kim Jong Un. North Korea has called the film – slated for a Christmas Day opening in the U.S. – an “act of war.”