DPRK denies hacking allegations

World Today

The hack attack on Sony Pictures took new twists and turns. Washington had a long-time dispute with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which had primarily centered on its nuclear weapons program. The conflict moved into new territory with the accusation that Pyongyang orchestrated the attack. The DPRK ratcheted up its tone toward Washington. CCTV America’s May Lee reported from Los Angeles.

U.S. President Barack Obama weighed his options after the FBI concluded that North Korea was to blame for the massive hacking of Sony Pictures. However, DPRK denied it’s to blame.

DPRK came out swinging after being formally accused by the FBI of the Sony hack attack. Pyongyang continued to deny its involvement in the breach and now is on the offensive.

A statement, released by Pyongyang on Sunday said “The DPRK has clear evidence that the U.S. administration was deeply involved in the making of such dishonest reactionary movie.” It added “Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism.”

The hackers, calling themselves “Guardians of Peace”, have also sent a new video message which appeared to mock the FBI investigation. It linked to a YouTube video called “you are an idiot!” which was uploaded back in 2006. The two-minute clip includes strange animated characters and foreign-language text. It’s unclear if it was indeed posted by the Sony hackers.

Obama vowed to act proportionally to the hack attack, but hasn’t provided any details. He said Sony’s decision to pull the plug on the comedy “The Interview” was a mistake and expressed concerns about the ripple effects.

“Imagine if producers, distributors and others start engaging in self-censorship, because they don’t want to offend the sensibilities of someone whose sensibilities probably need to be offended,” Obama said.

In Hollywood many feel censorship will lead to the death of freedom of expression and creativity.

A battered Sony Entertainment CEO, Michael Lynton, defended his decision and left the door open to eventually releasing “The Interview”. The company’s lawyer said the studio plans to release the movie at some point.

“Sony only delayed this. Sony has been fighting to get this picture distributed. It will be distributed.  I don’t think anybody knows quite yet about how it’s going to be distributed, but it’s going to be distributed,” David Boies, the lawyer for Sony Pictures Entertainmeny, said.


Scott Schober talked about cyber security and corporate espionage

For more on the this, CCTV America talked with Scott Schober, who is an expert on cyber security and corporate espionage.