Sony CEO does not expect studio upheaval after cyber attack
President and CEO of Sony Corporation Kazuo Hirai speaks about Sony digital cameras at a Sony news conference during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 5, 2015.
Credit: Reuters/Steve Marcus
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Sony Corp Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai does not see the November cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment causing major upheaval in the studio’s business.
Hirai on Tuesday told a roundtable of reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that he had signed off on all major decisions by the company in response to the attack, which the U.S. government has blamed on North Korea.
Sony’s network was crippled by hackers as the company prepared to release “The Interview”, a comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. The attack was followed by online leaks of unreleased movies and emails that caused embarrassment to executives.
“We are still reviewing the effects of the cyber attack,” Hirai told reporters. “However, I do not see it as something that will cause a material upheaval on Sony Pictures business operations.”
On Monday, Hirai had praised employees and partners of Sony’s Hollywood movie studio for standing up to “extortionist efforts” of hackers, his first public comments on the attack.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, writing by Peter Henderson; Editing by Grant McCool)