President Obama says that the United States will respond to North Korea over its cyberattack on Sony Pictures. He declined to say what that response will be, saying only that it will be "proportional."

Well, it is officially NK now. :-) Must pay.

Exclusive: Sony Emails Say State Department Blessed Kim Jong-Un Assassination in ‘The Interview’

“In fact, when I have briefed my book on ‘preparing for the possibility of a North Korean collapse’ [Sept 2013], I have been clear that the assassination of Kim Jong-Un is the most likely path to a collapse of the North Korean government. Thus while toning down the ending may reduce the North Korean response, I believe that a story that talks about the removal of the Kim family regime and the creation of a new government by the North Korean people (well, at least the elites) will start some real thinking in South Korea and, I believe, in the North once the DVD leaks into the North (which it almost certainly will). So from a personal perspective, I would personally prefer to leave the ending alone.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/exclusive-sony-emails-allege-u-s-govt-official-ok-d-controversial-ending-to-the-interview.html

http://antiwar.com/blog/2014/12/18/state-dept-the-interview/print/

Working in IT for a large corporation, Sony getting hacked comes as no surprise to me. IT infrastructure and security come at the bare minimum of spending because it's a big expense that returns no revenue. Companies are willing to skate by, and in Sony's case, they were really skating on thin ice.

I initially thought this was all an elaborate marketing scheme... but as more news pours in, it just sounds like crappy IT investments, and knee jerk reactions.

Sony fired a lot if IT people earlier in the year. Then they shuttered Sony Imageworks and relocated to Vancouver. Some say Revenge of the Nerds!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sony-pictures-lays-off-employees-technology-group-20140122-story.html

Japanese companies have not fared well in Hollywood. Remember Matsushita (Panasonic) bought MCA Universal for $6.6 billion and ended up dumping it. The management kept producing bomb after bomb, maybe intentionally. Hollywood is like a black hole, making money vanish. Market analysts have called it the " Mugging" of Japanese companies. Hollywood is now courting Chinese capital, but they have been more cautious about throwing billions into the black hole.

The Evidence That North Korea Hacked Sony Is Flimsy

But in their initial public statement, whoever hacked Sony made no mention of North Korea or the film. And in an email sent to Sony by the hackers, found in documents they leaked, there is also no mention of North Korea or the film. The email was sent to Sony executives on Nov. 21, a few days before the hack went public. Addressed to Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton, Chairwoman Amy Pascal and other executives, it appears to be an attempt at extortion, not an expression of political outrage or a threat of war.

“[M]onetary compensation we want,” the email read. “Pay the damage, or Sony Pictures will be bombarded as a whole. You know us very well. We never wait long. You’d better behave wisely.”

http://www.wired.com/2014/12/evidence-of-north-korea-hack-is-thin/

So who actually hacked them? Were they so stupid that they had a single account that had access to absolutely everything their company has ever done from emails to digital copies of unreleased movies?

You don’t just sweep in and steal terabytes worth of data without leaving a single trace. I want to know why Sony hasn’t said anything about who actually stole the data.

@vk: "Are you sure that any threats ever existed?" - No, of course not, but that won't keep copycats from jumping on the bandwagon.

Actually, my first thought when I heard the "terror threat" story was: Ok, now that Sony has been caught with their trousers down, they play the usual "Those were terrorists!" card.

I mean, would a corporation like Sony ever admit they've been hacked by some playful 13 years old? Declaring your opponents to be terrorists, on the other hand, in today's world seems to justify everything.

Cyber Security expert Philip Lieberman on SONY hackers, hackers most likely non-state hackers or Sony employees, Korean Language experts: threats not in Korean "inversion", LISTEN to Part one, begins at 16:50 - 24:00

"The Interview" X-mas premiere cancelled

http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/episode/2014/12/17/wednesday-cuba---us-relations-restored-rehtaeh-parsons-named-the-interview-premiere-cancelled-and-mo/

And are you sure they don't have daily threat they simply ignored? It's not like it's an uncommon thing for every public email to something widely known (people or brand).

Hmm... doing such intentionally sounds like a very expensive marketing stunt... especially considering how many copycats will now feel encouraged to send anonymous threats on whatever movie they dislike.

If you ask me, it all was made intentionally. To promote very bad movie (not to get money on it, but mostly promote illegal distribution).