President Obama vows U.S. response to North Korea over Sony cyber attack

Story by Reuters
Written by Aruna Viswanatha and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to respond to a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures that he blamed on North Korea, and scolded the Hollywood studio for caving in to what he described as a dictator trying to impose censorship in the United States.

Obama said the cyber attack "caused a lot of damage" to Sony but that the company should have spoken to him before letting itself be intimidated into canceling the release of "The Interview," a comedy portraying the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We will respond," Obama told an end-of-year news conference. "We'll respond proportionally, and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose."

Two hours before he spoke, the FBI announced that investigators had determined that North Korea was behind the hacking of Sony, calling it an unacceptable act of state-sponsored "intimidation."

Obama said North Korea appeared to have acted alone. Washington began consultations with Japan, China, South Korea and Russia seeking their assistance in reining North Korea's cyber activities.

It was the first time the United States had directly accused another country of a cyber attack of such magnitude on American soil and sets up a possible new confrontation between longtime foes Washington and Pyongyang.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-behind-sony-hack-possible-china-u-152034211--sector.html