‘PBS Idea Channel’ Explores Abstraction and the Tenuous Link Between North Korea and Hackers

PBS Idea Channel host Mike Rugnetta explores both abstraction and the tenuous link between North Korea and hackers in the latest episode of the series. Specifically, Rugnetta discusses the impact of the Sony hack allegedly performed by North Korean hackers in response to the comedy film The Interview poking fun at Kim Jong-un, and why the whole thing is so confusingly uncertain.

The recent release of The Interview could have been a movie unto itself (possibly a better movie), involving hackers, a secretive foreign nation, an inept corporation and the United States government. After the Sony leaks, the FBI said North Korean hackers were to blame, and Obama put sanctions into place in response. FOREIGN POLICY was affected by this cyberattack!! But was North Korea really the one responsible? And if it wasn’t behind the leak, and we can’t identify our attackers, what the heck does that mean for the 21st century?!!