--- description: Sony's chief executive offered his first public comments about the hackers that ultimately sabotaged the worldwide premiere of The Interview. title: Sony CEO's First Public Comment on Hack: 'Vicious and Malicious' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5be99bf2f928565e/698778458e06016ad04598a3/sony-kazuo-hirai-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sony CEO Breaks Silence on 'Vicious and Malicious' Hack  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2015 1:14 PM CUT  President and CEO of Sony Corporation Kazuo Hirai speaks at a Sony news conference during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jan. 5, 2015. President and CEO of Sony Corporation Kazuo Hirai speaks at a Sony news conference during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jan. 5, 2015.Steve Marcus—Reuters  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2015 1:14 PM CUT Sony’s chief executive offered his first public comments about the December cyberattack that exposed his company’s inner workings, and ultimately [sabotaged](http://time.com/3638987/the-interview-cancelled-sony-hack/ "undefined") the worldwide premiere of _The Interview._ CEO Kazuo Hirai called the attack one of the most “vicious and malicous” hacks in recent history, CNN [reports](http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/06/media/sony-interview-hack-ces/index.html "undefined"). He broke his silence during a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday, adding, “I am very proud of all the employees, and certainly the partners that we work with as well, who stood up against some of the extortionist efforts of the criminals.” [_Read more at CNN_](http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/06/media/sony-interview-hack-ces/index.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3655462/sony-chief-executive-hacking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3655462/sony-chief-executive-hacking/"},"headline":"Sony CEO Breaks Silence on 'Vicious and Malicious' Hack","datePublished":"2015-01-06T13:14:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:04:05.590Z","description":"CEO broke weeks of silence about 'The Interview' hack on Monday","url":"https://time.com/3655462/sony-chief-executive-hacking/","keywords":["Tech","North Korea","Sony","Security","cybersecurity","the interview"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5be99bf2f928565e/698778458e06016ad04598a3/sony-kazuo-hirai-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5be99bf2f928565e/698778458e06016ad04598a3/sony-kazuo-hirai-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President and CEO of Sony Corporation Hirai speaks at a Sony news conference during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas","caption":"President and CEO of Sony Corporation Hirai speaks at a Sony news conference during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas","creditText":"Steve Marcus—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3655462/sony-chief-executive-hacking/","name":"Sony CEO Breaks Silence on 'Vicious and Malicious' Hack"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'The Interview' Could Cost Sony Big Despite Strong Opening","description":"Sony spent about $80 million to make and market the movie but will likely only make a portion of that in sales.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wIUJYew1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-29T23:07:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wIUJYew1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3655462/sony-chief-executive-hacking/","duration":"PT1M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3655462/sony-chief-executive-hacking/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```