CRI听力:Cyber Attack on Sony Pictures Treated as National Security Matter: US

The White House has announced that U.S. officials were treating a cyber attack on Sony Pictures as a serious national security matter and President Barack Obama's National Security Council was considering a proportionate response.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

"There is evidence to indicate that we have seen destructive activity with malicious intent initiated by a serious actor and it is being treated by those investigative agencies, both at the FBI and the Department of Justice of Justice as seriously as you would expect."

He added that they need to be mindful of the response they make and the president's national security team is mindful of both the response and the motivations of the attacker.

But Earnest says he is not in a position to confirm North Korea was responsible for the attack.

In the wake of the attack which revealed personal emails between Sony executives and made international headlines, Sony Pictures canceled the release of "The Interview", a comedy about the fictional assassination of North Korea's leader.

The 44 million dollar comedy had been set to debut on Christmas Day on thousands of screens.