North Korea denies responsibility for Sony Pictures hack

PanARMENIAN.Net - North Korea's government has denied responsibility for the Sony Pictures Entertainment cyber attack, but praised the intent behind the massive security breach, according to Digital Spy.

Sony Pictures Entertainment confirmed that it had been the victim of a large-scale hacking on November 25, with a group called Guardians of Peace later taking credit.

There had been speculation that North Korea could have instigated the cyber attack over objections to James Franco and Seth Rogen's new movie The Interview.

A North Korean official previously promised retribution if Sony's comedy film about an assassination plot against Kim Jong-Un was released.

State-run media in North Korea has now released a statement from the government describing allegations of responsibility for the Sony hack as a "wild rumour", but also positing that supporters of the regime could be responsible.

"The hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathisers with the DPRK in response to its appeal," a government spokesperson said in a statement to state-run KCNA.

The cyber attack led to the illegal disclosure of personal and financial details of many current and former Sony Pictures employees online.

Private data for Sylvester Stallone, filmmaker Judd Apatow, Rebel Wilson, Franco and Rogen was released by hackers.

Sony Pictures Entertainment initially responded to the cyber attack by saying in a statement: "[We] experienced a system disruption, which [we] are working diligently to resolve."