The Sony Pictures hack was initially thought to be the work of North Korea, especially when the hackers demanded that Sony pull The Interview movie, a movie which depicted the fictional assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. The movie was initially protested by North Korea upon its unveiling which is why many had suspected the country being involved in the hacks.
North Korea had denied their involvement with the FBI backing their claims, stating that they did not find any evidence of North Korea’s involvement. However it looks like North Korea is back in the crosshairs of the US government as senior intelligence officials have told news outlets (off the record, of course) like the New York Times and CNN, just to name a few, that they believe that North Korea is “centrally involved” in the hack.
At this point it is unclear as to how the US government will respond as their sources have told them that the White House was still deciding on their best course of action. Some are reportedly in favor of direct confrontation, but others believe that direct confrontation will damage the negotiations between Japan and North Korea over the return of kidnapped Japanese nationals.
As for Sony, the company has decided that their best course of action is to comply with the demands of the hackers by cancelling The Interview’s theatrical release, following threats that the hackers would launch physical attacks on the cinemas that would screen the movie.