Who done it? While the claims and counter claims divide experts, pundits and media talking heads, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is saying that the North Korean government is responsible for the Sony Pictures hack. Moreover, when asked to comment the increasingly absurd affair, President Barrack Obama slammed Sony Pictures for canceling the premiere of “The Interview,” the movie that supposedly inspired hackers to act.
Could things actually get worse for Sony Pictures? Yeah, things probably could get worse, but let’s not go there.
NBC News reports that the FBI has officially named North Korea as the responsible party for the Sony Pictures hack. That hack, for better and obviously worse, resulted in Sony pulling “The Interview,” a comedy about the assassination of North Korea dictator Kim Jung Un, from release and distribution.
“North Korea’s actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a US business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves,” the bureau said in a statement. “Such acts of intimidation fall outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior.”
Although various experts and pundits continue to haggle over meaning the publicly cited evidence, the FBI states methods and motivation point directly to the North Korea government, which employs thousands of hackers.
For what it’s worth, an email purportedly from said hackers said Sony’s move to pull “The Interview” was “very wise.”
The Interview: FBI Blames, Obama Names
Later in the day, President Barrack Obama was asked about the Sony hack and resulting cancelation of “The Interview” release and distribution — you can hear the face palm in his reply to reporters.
“I wish they had spoken to me first,” said the President. “I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you’re intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks.
“That’s not who we are. That’s not what America’s about,” continued the President.
It has been a matter of great speculation as to why Sony Pictures chose to cancel the release and distribution of “The Interview” given that no one believes North Korea could actually follow through with its threats to wreak 9/11 style havoc.
“We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States,” said Obama. “Because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don’t like or news reports that they don’t like.”
Yes, Sony, you have done the wrong thing at every turn — incompetent computer security, incompetent media management + damage control and, perhaps more to the point, “The Interview” is just a crappy movie…
What’s your take?