Sony Pictures was in late November the target of a massive cyber attack, which not only exposed a significant amount of internal data, but also forced the company to pull the controversial The Interview comedy from theaters, after receiving further threats from the hackers responsible. Even though North Korea, which was initially believed to be behind the hack because of its resent for this particular movie, denied involvement more than once, The Associated Press reports that investigators have apparently found evidence that the communist nation is to blame.
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An unidentified U.S. official familiar with the attack on Sony said that North Korea backed up the hack, without revealing more details about the security team’s findings.
It’s not clear at this time how North Korea was linked to the attack, and whether the U.S. will officially respond in any matter. An official announcement, further explaining the Sony hack, is yet to be made.
Meanwhile, Sony stands by its decision to pull The Interview from theaters, and the movie might not see a later release, as Sony said it has “no further release plans for the film.”
“We are deeply saddened at this brazen effort to suppress the distribution of a movie, and in the process do damage to our company, our employees, and the American public,” Sony said. “We stand by our filmmakers and their right to free expression and are extremely disappointed by this outcome.”
“We take very seriously any attempt to threaten or limit artists’ freedom of speech or of expression,” White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said, adding that the U.S. government had no involvement in Sony’s decision to pull the movie.
The White House and the State Department are yet to comment on the reported link between North Korea and the Sony hack.
