The White House administration has apparently asked China for some help with curbing the ability of North Korea to launch their cyberattacks, like the one an official in the Obama administration said was crippling to Sony Pictures, says a published report.
A national newspaper reported that the Obama administration requested Beijing’s help recently but the Chinese have yet to respond.
However, a senior White House official claimed that the United States and China have exchanged information about the attack on Sony.
The U.S. has attempted previously to use the influence China has with North Korea to influence its policy, particularly with matters pertaining to nuclear tests, South Korea relations and weapons launches.
However, the success rate has been few and far between. In the Sony Pictures hack case, it has been reported than China cooperation is key to blocking the cyberwarfare abilities of North Korea, since nearly all of the telecommunications in the country run through operate networks in China.
However, Beijing and Washington have their own issues with cybersecurity to get through. Last May, the Department of Justice indicted five computer hackers on behalf of the military in China on charges of attempting to steal data of a sensitive nature from companies in the U.S. The government of China denied wrongdoing.
Officials in the U.S. blame North Koreas in the hacking of November 24 citing tools used to attack Sony and previous cyberattacks linked to North Korea.
The hack resulted in a disclosure of tens of thousands of Sony emails that were confidential and many business files.
It escalated into a threat of attacks against movie theaters in the U.S. that caused Sony to cancel its release on Christmas Day of the movie The Interview, which is a comedy about an assassination plot on Kim Jong Un the leader of North Korea.
U.S. officials are reported to by weighing their options to present to President Obama of a proportional response to the hacking in Sony that was promised by Obama in a press conference on Friday.
