Washington ( CNN ) President Barack Obama says he does n't consider North Korea 's hack of Sony Pictures `` an act of war . '' `` It was an act of cybervandalism , '' Obama said in an interview with CNN 's Candy Crowley that aired Sunday on `` State of the Union . '' Obama said that the United States is going review whether to put North Korea back on a list of states that sponsor terrorism . `` We 've got very clear criteria as to what it means for a state to sponsor terrorism . And we do n't make those judgments just based on the news of the day , '' he said . `` We look systematically at what 's been done and based on those facts , we 'll make those determinations in the future . '' The President stuck by his criticism of Sony 's decision to cancel its plans to release the movie `` The Interview , '' which includes a cartoonish depiction of the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , after the country threatened attacks against theaters that showed it . Obama said in a Friday news conference that Sony made `` a mistake , '' and that he wished the company had called him first . That led Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton to tell CNN that Obama and the public `` are mistaken as to what actually happened . '' He blamed movie theater companies that opted not to show the film , saying they forced Sony 's hand . Related : Sony exec fires back at Obama . Investigators : Hackers stole Sony passwords . Obama shot back , saying : `` I was pretty sympathetic to the fact that they have business considerations that they got to make . Had they talked to me directly about this decision , I might have called the movie theater chains and distributors and asked them what the story was . '' The President told Crowley that his problem was n't with Sony specifically , but with the precedent the company 's decision set . The FBI on Friday pinned blame on North Korea for a hack into Sony 's computer systems . Obama said both foreign governments and hackers outside government present cyberthreats that are part of the modern business landscape . `` If we set a precedent in which a dictator in another country can disrupt through cyber , a company 's distribution chain or its products , and as a consequence we start censoring ourselves , that 's a problem , '' Obama said . `` And it 's a problem not just for the entertainment industry , it 's a problem for the news industry , '' he said . `` CNN has done critical stories about North Korea . What happens if in fact there is a breach in CNN 's cyberspace ? Are we going to suddenly say , are we not going to report on North Korea ? `` So the key here is not to suggest that Sony was a bad actor . It 's making a broader point that all of us have to adapt to the possibility of cyberattacks , we have to do a lot more to guard against them . '' Lynton , speaking to CNN 's Fareed Zakaria , said he was `` disappointed '' in what Obama said Friday . `` We have not given in . And we have not backed down . We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie , '' Lynton said . But that 's not what the company initially said after canceling the film 's release . On Wednesday night , a studio spokesperson said simply , `` Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film . '' The nonprofit Human Rights Foundation is pushing a campaign called # HackThemBack , inviting `` those who support freedom and democracy '' to `` help North Korean defectors amplify , refine , and intensify efforts to break the monopoly of information '' that the regime imposes on its people . The group also plans to buy copies of `` The Interview '' and include them in balloon drops over North Korea , founder Thor Halvorssen said . More from Candy Crowley 's interview with President Obama : . Obama to do `` everything I can '' to close Guantanamo . Related : Obama says he 's not being `` rolled '' by Putin . CNN 's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report . Watch State of the Union with Candy Crowley Sundays at 9am ET . For the latest from State of the Union click here .
Obama says U.S. will review whether to put North Korea back on sponsors of terrorism list . He stands by his criticism of Sony 's decision to cancel film 's release . Sony executive said he was `` disappointed '' in Obama 's Friday comments . Human Rights Foundation plans to drop copies of `` The Interview '' over North Korea .