What Did Obama Know, or Want to Know, About Sony's Response to Hack? 

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.
Sony canceled the Dec. 25 release of the comedy about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying that theater chains had received threats of violence. The move prompted Obama to say the company “made a mistake” and that he wished “they’d have spoken to me first.” The head of Sony’s studio and White House officials did talk, both sides agree -- just not about whether the movie should be released.
The spat showed that the U.S. government and businesses still can’t collaborate effectively to deter cyber-attacks, defend against them or respond to them. It added urgency to a debate over whether and when the government should take responsibility for protecting private companies from attacks and whether and when those companies can strike back against foreign nations or groups.
Obama promised to retaliate against North Korea for the Sony hack, answering a largely unresolved legal and political question surrounding cyber-warfare: The U.S. government will act on behalf of a private company after an attack. 
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-21/sony-hack-reveals-u-s-can-t-protect-business-from-attack.html