A new theory has surfaced that downplays North Korea's involvement in the Sony hacking scandal and suggests the people responsible are actually Russian, based on a linguistics study of the leaked emails.

Security experts believe the origins of the now-infamous Guardians of the Peace are Russian after analyzing about 1,600 words attached to the Sony emails the hacking group leaked to a variety of media outlets.

The words were investigated by Seattle-based cyber security firm Taia Global.

'Our preliminary results show that Sony's attackers were most likely Russian, possibly but not likely Korean and definitely not Mandarin Chinese or German,' the company wrote in a Christmas Eve blog post, according to The New York Daily News.

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New theory: Linguists at Seattle-based cyber security firm Taia Global studied 1,600 words in the 'Guardians of the Peace' emails and postings, and believe the native language of the hackers is Russian. Pictured here is the Red Square in Moscow

The firm deducted that while the analysis did not clear North Korea of any involvement in the hack, it was unlikely.

That is based on the phrasing and language used by the hackers, who communicated in English.

The Taia Global study determined 15 out of 20 phrasings in the emails matched the Russian language.

Nine matched Korean, and none were Mandarin or German.

President Obama and the FBI have accused North Korea of being behind the hacking saga in response to the Sony film The Interview, which features a mock death of the country's leader, Kim Jong-un.

The government have not released the sources that lead them to direct blame at North Korea.

Jong-un has denied any involvement, and accused the United States of temporarily shutting off its internet this week.

Earlier this week, Guardians of the Peace failed to deliver a much-hyped 'Christmas gift' they claimed would destroy Sony.

'We are preparing for you a Christmas gift,' the group posted online in mid-December.

'The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state.'

Yet days later a letter released by the hackers on December 18 said that Sony had 'suffered enough.'

People wait in line on Christmas day to watch the first screening of the controversial movie The Interview in Atlanta, Georgia. The promise of more Sony secrets being revealed has so far failed to materialize

Since then the hackers appear to have turned their attention to the FBI and on December 21 they posted a message which cynically 'praised' the FBI's investigation into the hack, with a link to a video that repeated the phrase 'You are an idiot' repeatedly.

On Christmas Day, people flocked to the 300 or so cinemas showing The Interview, saying they are taking a stand for freedom.

While the Guardians of Peace may be done, a new hacking group has already stepped in and taken their place, managing to shut down the company's PlayStation network at the worst possible time - Christmas Day.

According to Deadline, a group called Lizard Squad is taking credit for the hack, which managed to put the network out of commission for hours not just once, but twice during the holiday. They are also claiming to have done the same to Xbox Live.

This hack pales in comparison however to the damage inflicted on Sony and its employees as a result of the Guardians of Peace hack.

Game over: The Sony hack that resulted in the leak of thousands of emails exchanges between Hollywood heavyweights including studio head Amy Pascal (right) and Scott Rudin (left) seems to be over

No backlash: This despite the fact that Sony decided to reverse their decision made last week to shelve the film following threats of a terrorist incident

And of those employees, no one has had to endure more than studio head Amy Pascal, whose work emails were released on a near daily basis.

The hackers began their reign of terror on November 24 by hacking into employee computers and displaying a flashing skull with a cryptic message informing workers 'we've obtained all your internal data.'

The computers would remain down for over a week, and a few days later the hackers deliver their first of many shocking dumps when the leak the Brad Pitt war drama Fury as well as unreleased studio titles including Annie, Mr. Turner, Still Alice and To Write Love On Her Arms online.

It was around this time in late November that speculation began to mount that North Korea was likely behind the hack, a claim that seems to be based on nothing other than the fact that the country's UN ambassador Ja Song Nam wrote a letter to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon taking issue that a film that depicts the assassination of a sitting world leader was allowed to be made, let alone released.

And although the Guardians fail to even address these claims, or make any demands of Sony, until well into December, the story continues to grow and is accepted by many as fact long before the FBI claims to have actual proof of the country's involvement.

Deny: Following an FBI report that North Korea was behind the attack, King Jong-un (above) released a statement denying the allegation and attacking the United States

It is in December that the hackers really turn things up, dumping an astonishing amount of information in the first two weeks of the month.

Salaries of the company's top executives become public, the script for the new James Bond film is leaked, and then there are the emails attacking an assortment of A-list actors, writers and directors, along with a racist exchange between Pascal and her frequent pen-pal in many of these leaked emails, producer Scott Rudin, in which the two mock President Obama by listing what his favorite movie might be.

The two would later release individual public apologies for their comments.

This racist exchange is still being addressed by Pascal, who flew to New York to meet with Al Sharpton and has given the go ahead to a new program dedicated to promoting racial diversity in film.

Pascal does however manage to come off as respectful and understanding when speaking about many of Hollywood's biggest stars, save one incident in which she labels Adam Sandler an 'a**hole' not once, but twice.

Rudin on the other hand seems to have no problem talking about the talent behind their back, particularly Angelina Jolie who he labels 'a minimally talented spoiled brat' in one email, and in another exchange actually removes from the chain in order to tell Pascal that the actress is 'out of her mind.'

During this time the group also starts dumping employee medical records, and most notably there letter on December 8 demanding that Sony stop the release of their upcoming Kim Jong-un assassination film The Interview.

Then, on December 13 with the scandal at near fever pitch, the group announces plans for their upcoming 'Christmas gift' which they say will put Sony 'into the worst state.'

Then things go quiet until December 16, when the group follows up their demand by threatening a terrorist attack of any movie theater set to play The Interview when it is released on December 25.

Everywhere: The film has now been released across three viewing platforms - theaters, on demand and online

By day's end, the four largest theater chains in the country announced they will not show the film, and the following day Sony cancels the film's release.

It is then that the Guardians release the aforementioned December 18 letter saying the Sony has suffered enough.

Things finally turned around on Wednesday however for Sony, when Christmas came exactly one day early and the studio was able to declare victory over their hackers by releasing The Interview online.

Making the release even sweeter for Sony was the massive outpouring of public support for the film, with thousands turning out for Christmas Eve midnight screenings across the country and tens of thousands of Americans streaming the film online.

And as an added bonus for Sony, the studio will now go down in the history books for becoming the first studio to release a major motion picture online, as well as being the first studio to simultaneously allow for the viewing of a film across three different platforms - theaters, online and video on demand.

'It has always been Sony's intention to have a national platform on which to release this film,' Sony Pictures chair and CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement.

'We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release.'

Even more impressive however is how quickly the studio managed to pull this all together after initially deciding to hold off on distributing the film last week.

Sony only announced on Tuesday that the film would play in selected theaters and be released to video on demand on Thursday.

As for the big online announcement, that was confirmed less than an hour before the movie appeared on Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft Xbox Video and a Sony website created for the film, with the option of renting the film for $5.99 or downloading it for $16.99.

There are still questions as to just who was behind the hacking as well, with many experts in the cybersecurity field questioning an FBI report that they say proved North Korea's government masterminded the attack.