“This [Sony hack] is something that is being treated as a serious national security matter. There is evidence to indicate that we have seen destructive activity with malicious intent that was initiated by a sophisticated actor,” Earnest said Thursday.
“It is being treated by those investigative agencies both at the FBI and the Department of Justice,” the spokesperson added.
On Wednesday, Sony canceled its December 25 movie theater release of a comedy, revolving around the fictional assassination of DPRK's leader Kim Jong-Un, “The Interview,” after the company and US movie theaters were threatened by hackers over the films screening. The hackers have threatened to initiate acts of terror against movie theaters that intended to show the film.
A former House Republican Newt Gingrich argued on his Twitter account that an efficient response would be to release the movie online for free with a Korean-language version. As for now, he added, the US has “lost its first cyberwar.”
