Sony CEO Speaks Publicly for First Time on ‘Vicious and Malicious Cyberattacks’

Kazuo Hirai, the CEO of Sony, spoke out publicly yesterday, for the first time, on the cyberattacks against the company over Sony Pictures’ movie The Interview. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, Hirai opened by asking, “How many of you went to see a great Sony movie this holiday?”

People raised their hands and Hirai said, “That’s great. Annie is a fantastic movie.”

Joking aside, Hirai did speak out about the “vicious and malicious cyberattacks” against Sony over The Interview. He hailed the Sony employees who “worked tirelessly” and stood up to “extortionists” just so they could make sure audiences across the U.S. and Canada got to enjoy The Interview.

Hirai didn’t make any mention of potential North Korean ties to the hacking, but did say, “Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of association––those are very important lifelines of Sony and the entertainment business.”

You can watch Hirai’s comments here:

[h/t Deadline]
[image via cellanr/Flickr]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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