Due to Sony's decision to produce and distribute Seth Rogen's latest comedy The Interview, they've found a harden relationship with North Korea. After several threats to not release the movie have gone unnoticed—with the most the studio has done is delay it to a Christmas Day release—fears of their "stern punishment" against the studio, and possibly the country, have not been forgotten.
So with the studio the victim of a recent network hack, one can understand why they believe North Korea is involved. With that line of thinking, Sony Pictures reportedly is investigating to see if the country really is linked to the crime.
According to Re/code, via The Hollywood Reporter, the hacking attack earlier this week, eventually resulting in the leaked releases of Sony films like Annie, Still Alice, Fury and Mr Turner, could be working out of China on behalf of North Korea.
On Monday, a hackers group called Guardians of Peace, or #GOP, left an image bearing an message on the screens of Sony Pictures employees' computers. The message threatened to link sensitive information and date stolen by the servers if demands were not met. This attack also locked them out of their computers, forcing communication to be held using pen and paper. On Wednesday, some sensitive files were reportedly leaked on Reddit, though whether these were Sony files or not have not been confirmed.
"Sony Pictures Entertainment experienced a system disruption, which we are working diligently to resolve," a statement released by Tuesday from the studio said.
The Interview centers on Rogen and James Franco as a TV producer and presenter recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong Un, North Korea's supreme leader. They previously called the movie an "act of war."
Image courtesy of Scott Kirkland/INFphoto.com