Sony Hack Shows Lack of Collaboration Between U.S., Business

Back-channel talks between Sony Pictures Entertainment and the White House to coordinate a response to a debilitating cyber-attack didn’t prevent a public disagreement over the studio’s decision to pull its film, “The Interview.”

President Barack Obama’s rare rebuke Dec. 19 of a company’s actions came after the White House took care to avoid telling the Sony Corp. unit how to respond to hackers linked by the U.S. to North Korea, according to two administration officials familiar with the discussions. The North Korean government says it had nothing to do with the attack.