Maybe I should be outraged by Sony’s decision not to distribute the movie The Interview, but I am merely saddened by it. I am saddened that a hacking incident with all the hallmarks of a simple case of extortion has been distorted so it looks like a terrorist threat.

Taking a step back: Sony was hacked by one or more people who, according to all the information available, were located in Thailand. They apparently made an extortion attempt against Sony, and Sony ignored it. In response, the hackers acted like script kiddies and started vindictively posting the stolen information. Somewhere along the way, the hackers started to focus more on The Interview, a comedy, slated for Christmas release by Sony, in which two journalists wrangle an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and then are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. Not so coincidentally, this new focus coincided with rising media speculation that North Korea may have been involved in the attack. What was supposed to be the smoking gun that “proved” North Korea’s involvement was the revelation that some of the malware used in the attack was apparently sourced from malware used in an attack that was legitimately attributed to North Korea.

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