Reports: US Authorities Suspect Chinese Involvement in Sony Hack

U.S. authorities were expected to announce that not only was North Korea behind the devastating cyberattack against Sony Pictures, but that there may be a link to the Chinese government, a government official told Reuters.

While many national security have suspected North Korea's involvement with the hacker group Guardians of Peace, the White House stopped short on Thursday of totally blaming the hermit nation, describing the hack as "a serious national security matter" and noting that the Obama administration is considering a "proportional response."

CNN cited an anonymous source at Sony Pictures in reporting that "the hackers behind a devastating cyberattack ... reportedly sent a new message to executives at the company on Friday, crediting them for a 'very wise' decision to cancel the Christmas day release of the film."

"Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy," the message says. "And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately."

Editors Note: Mar. 2, 2015 

An earlier version of this article failed to cite a passage from CNN in accordance with Mic editorial standards. The article has been updated to properly attribute the language to CNN.