Stories early this week suggest grounds for US confidence in its quick attribution of the Sony hack to the North Korean government: NSA may have seen the attack unfold. As Naked Security says, the US "had a front-row seat." That seat, if in fact it was occupied, seems not to have offered a clear view of battlespace preparation. (Reaction lacks the default tone of outrage NSA stories attract, almost as if the agency were witnessed carrying out a legitimate mission. Who knew?)

Weekend stories of Islamist hacktivism against French media sites in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre may have been overblown — some reports now indicate apparent hacks may have been technical failures. Islamist information operations (largely diffuse Internet recruiting efforts) draw attention and concern from Ohio to Berlin to Pakistan. Independently, criminals co-opt the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag to spread malware.

The Chinese government is accused of a man-in-the-middle attack against Microsoft Outlook users. An old story — Chinese cyber theft of F-35 design information — also resurfaces. China denies the allegation, but it arouses fresh concerns in Australia and Japan.

Beware of bogus LinkedIn support messages, warns Symantec.

Lizard Squad may have over-reached with its DDoS-as-a-service offering: other hackers appear to have compromised their site. But other hired guns are out there: analysts look at a growing black market for espionage-as-a-service.

The UK and US plan closer cyber collaboration, and UK cyber firms seek US market share.

US President Obama is expected to propose cyber information sharing in tonight's State-of-the-Union address.