Sony hack was ‘cyber vandalism,’ not act of war, says Obama

The hack of Sony Pictures, blamed on North Korea by the FBI, was not an act of war, President Obama said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

“I don’t think it was an act of war,” he told CNN’s “State of the Union with Candy Crowley” in an interview that was recorded on Friday. “I think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately, as I said.”

Obama’s remarks are important for framing what might come next.

One of the possibilities, he said, was a return of North Korea to the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, which automatically imposes certain sanctions on the country and restrictions on interaction with U.S. organizations.

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