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           US Asks China for Help in Blocking N. Korea Cyber Attacks

   by VOA News

   The United States has rejected an offer by North Korea for a joint
   investigation in the hacking of Sony Pictures, and is reaching out to
   China to help block cyber attacks from Pyongyang.

   A U.S. official has said that in security talks with China, both sides
   agreed that conducting destructive cyber attacks is outside the norm of
   a civilized country.

   The request could be problematical because Washington has long said
   Chinese cyber theft has threatened U.S. defense secrets, hurt American
   companies' competitiveness and cost American workers jobs.

   North Korea denies it was responsible for hacking Sony Pictures'
   computer network and posting embarrassing e-mails, other private data
   and unreleased film projects on the Internet. The communist state,
   however, has praised the computer attack as "a righteous deed."

   Pyongyang says it can prove it was not involved in the attacks and has
   warned of "grave consequences" if Washington fails to accept the
   invitation to join an investigation.

   Sony has canceled the scheduled December 25 release of the satirical
   comedy "The Interview" in which the CIA hires two journalists to kill
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

   The hackers who penetrated the film company's computer network and
   stole thousands of documents call themselves the Guardians of Peace.
   They warned there would be a "bitter fate" for anyone attending a
   public showing of the movie.

   Sony Pictures chairman Michael Lynton told reporters Friday that the
   studio had no choice but to cancel the film's release because American
   theaters were unwilling to show it. He did, however, tell interviewers
   that Sony did not "give in" or "cave" [surrender] to the hackers, and
   is trying to find some format for people to view the film, possibly
   through a video-on-demand service or over the Internet.

   Speaking Friday at the White House, President Barack Obama said Sony
   made a mistake in canceling the film release.

   The president said, "We cannot have a society in which some dictator
   someplace can start imposing censorship here."

   Obama said he was "sympathetic" that Sony as a private company was
   worried about the risks it faced, but he added, "I wish they would have
   spoken to me ... [and not be] intimidated by these types of criminal
   attacks."
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   rth-korea-cyber-attacks/2567789.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-asks-china-for-help-in-blocking-north-korea-cyber-attacks/2567789.html