Obama vows to respond to Sony hacking

President Barack Obama has warned that the US will respond to an alleged North Korean hacking attack on Sony Pictures over the film The Interview.

US President Barack Obama discusses North Korea and cyber security, Cuba policy, the US economy and challenges the nation faced during the year, White House, Washington DC, 19 Dec 2014. (EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS)

US President Barack Obama has warned that Washington "will respond" to North Korea's alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures over The Interview, a satirical film about a CIA plot to kill Kim Jong-Un.

Obama nevertheless said while he was "sympathetic" to Sony's concerns about the threats to attack theatres screening the film, he believed the studio had erred in cancelling its release.

"We will respond. We will respond proportionately and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose," Obama told a press conference

"I'm sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake," he said.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States."