Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai addressed the controversial cyberattack that has devastated Sony Pictures during his speech at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, CNN reported.

Hirai said that the current and former Sony workers were victims of cyberattack, which he described as "one of the most vicious and malicious" ones in recent history. The cyberattack is apparently connected to the release of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's comedy "The Interview."

"But I have to say that I am very proud of all the employees, and certainly the partners that we work with as well, who stood up against some of the extortionist efforts of the criminals," Hirai said.

Before he got into the actual presentation, Hirai asked the audience who among them watched the great Sony Pictures film released on the holiday season but he was not referring to "The Interview."

"That's right. 'Annie' is a great movie," Hirai said of the comedy drama film starring Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, who recently got married to The Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden in Beverly Hills, according to E! News.

In December 2014, the FBI blamed North Korea for the cyberattack connected to "The Interview" that cost Sony Pictures millions of dollars. Many major movie theater chains opted to not show the film but Sony released it online and on more than 580 independent theatres, ABC News reported.

Praising the independent theatres that have opted to run "The Interview," Hirai asked for a round of applause for "the people who have gone out to see the movie in the theatres or in various online venues."

Joining Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, and James Franco in "The Interview" cast are several Asian actors Randall Park, Diana Bang, James Yi, Paul Bae, Charles Rahi Chun, Don Chow, Colin Foo, Cleo Yeh, Yuna Song, Michelle Kim, Peenkay Tang, Lia Lam and Daniel Lim, among others.