North Korea may be behind the recent Sony hack

Sony Pictures Entertainment is exploring the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea, perhaps operating out of China, may be behind a devastating attack that brought the studio’s network to a screeching halt earlier this week, sources familiar with the matter tell Re/code. The timing of the attack coincides with the imminent release of “The Interview,” a Sony film that depicts a CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. The nation’s ever-belligerent state propaganda outlets have threatened “merciless retaliation” against the U.S. and other nations if the film is released. The film is a comedy and features actors Seth Rogen and James Franco as celebrity journalists who score a rare interview with the North Korean leader, played by the actor Randall Park. In the film, the journalists are enlisted by the CIA to assassinate Kim.