Disney investigating internal communications leak after hackers claim to have data
Disney has confirmed it is launching an investigation into the potential leak of internal Slack communications after a group of hackers claimed to have obtained and leaked the channels.
The hacker group, called Nullbulge, claims it has leaked more than one terabyte of data from Disney’s Slack channels, forcing the entertainment giant to investigate.
“Disney is investigating this matter,” a spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. The ‘hacktivist’ group claims it aims to “protect artists’ rights and ensure fair compensation for their work”. It shared screenshots of documents containing planned projects for the streaming site, including recommended content and revenue data for Disneyland Paris.
The leaked information also contains logins, images, studio information, and more, all obtained from the company’s internal communications platform Slack.
Disney is among the latest companies to suffer from such potentially devastating cyberattacks, including Roku, which experienced a significant data breach of around 576,000 accounts in April this year. The breach was only uncovered amid an investigation of another attack, which saw 15,0000 accounts compromised.
In 2014, Sony experienced one of the worst hacks in corporate history after hacker group ‘Guardians of Peace’ leaked confidential data from the major studio, including personal information about employees and their families, gossip between employees, salary information, and plans for future movies and scripts. The hack resulted in then-CEO Amy Pascal stepping down from her role and a series of Hollywood actors being caught in the crosshairs of serious discourse about data security.
According to Nullbulge, it has hacked into “almost 10,000 channels, every message and file possible” at Disney, dating as far back as 2019.
The group told the Wall Street Journal its motive was to expose Disney “due to how it handles artist contracts, its approach to AI, and its… pretty blatant disregard for the consumer”. On the website, they also explained: “Consider the dropping of literally every bit of personal info you have, from logins to credit cards to SSN, as a warning for people in the future.”
This is a developing story.
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