The Hermit Kingdom says that the hack might be a ‘righteous deed of its supporters’
It's one of the most bizarre corporate hacks of recent times. The cyber-attack on Sony Pictures' computer systems, resulting in the leak of new and unreleased films such as Fury, Annie and Mr Turner along with thousands of sensitive documents, has set curious minds racing as to who could be behind it. Over the past week, a strange contender for prime suspect has emerged: North Korea.
The Hermit Kingdom has long stood in ardent opposition to the release of The Interview, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as two undercover agents who attempt to assassinate Dear Leader Kim Jong-un. Could the comedy film serve as the catalyst for a hack this vicious? North Korea has now denied that it is behind the attack, but released a statement to KCNA News that pretty much says in summary: "Hey, you had it coming."
"What we clearly know is that the Sony Pictures (sic) is the very one which was going to produce a film abetting a terrorist act while hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK by taking advantage of the hostile policy of the US administration towards the DPRK," the statement reads. "We already called upon the world to turn out in the just struggle to put an end to US imperialism, the chieftain of aggression and the worst human rights abuser that tramples down the universal rights of people to peaceful and stable life and violates the sovereignty of other countries, as well as its followers. The hacking into the Sony Pictures (sic) might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathisers with the DPRK in response to its appeal."
The original hackers signed off with the tagline #GOP, which allegedly stands for Guardians of Peace. Their most recent act of aggression was an email sent to Sony employees threatening their families, including the message "all hope will leave you and Sony Pictures will collapse".
For their part, Franco and Rogen seem pretty unperturbed by the threats. During Franco's opening monologue for Saturday Night Live, Rogen joined the host in a sketch poking fun at the leak.
