North Korea is behind unprecedented attack on Sony Pictures

It has just been confirmed by US intelligence officials that North Korea is behind the attack that has crippled Sony Pictures dramatically escalating the stakes for the White House.

After a scathing hack that has crippled Sony Pictures, the threat of hackers calling themselves 'Guardians of Peace' has forced theater chains to abandon screenings, while Sony has lost millions of dollars in the wake of the breach.

Today's revelation adds pressure on the Obama administration to respond in the wake of the single biggest cyber attack ever conducted on U.S soil, affecting thousands of people and leaking terabytes of private, and financial data on the web.

The New York Times points out the difficulty the White House now has in responding to the hack, and what steps the U.S. can take to mitigate public concern.

With 'The Interview' officially shut down for now, this state sponsored hack is the first of its kind, and may be considered an act of terrorism or aggression against the United States.

Thousands of Sony employees have been at the mercy of the hackers, with social security numbers, medical records and a private data available for all to see.

The FBI indicated earlier in December that few companies would have been able to withstand the scale of the attack, which intended to cripple the studio and put fear into people who wanted to see the movie. It looks like for now they have succeeded but with anger growing over the North Korea link, it's simply too late to downplay this hack.

CNN reports that that the US will officially link North Korea to the hack on Thursday.