Sony Condemns WikiLeaks for Publishing Hacked Emails

A spokesperson for Sony Pictures condemned WikiLeaks' decision to publish thousands of leaked emails and documents stemming from a 2014 hack attack on the studio, accusing the website of "assisting" the cyber criminals by disseminating the materials.

"The cyber-attack on Sony Pictures was a malicious criminal act, and we strongly condemn the indexing of stolen employee and other private and privileged information on WikiLeaks," a Sony spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. "The attackers used the dissemination of stolen information to try to harm SPE and its employees, and now WikiLeaks regrettably is assisting them in that effort. "

On Thursday, WikiLeaks said it had published 30,287 documents and 173,132 emails stemming from last winter's cyber-attack on Sony that was initiated by North Korea in response for its decision to produce "The Interview," a comedy about an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un.

In a release announcing that it WikiLeaks had created a searchable archive of the documents, the site's founder Julian Assange said the materials "belong in the public domain," citing Sony's status as a multi-national company with links to various government organizations. That argument fell flat with Sony's public relations team.

"We vehemently disagree with WikiLeaks' assertion that this material belongs in the public domain and will continue to fight for the safety, security, and privacy of our company and its more than 6,000 employees," the Sony statement says.