“Disney Data Breach: Activist Hacking Group Leaks Internal Communications and Sparks Industry Concern”
An activist hacking group has claimed responsibility for leaking thousands of internal messaging channels from Disney, which reportedly contained details about unreleased projects, raw images, computer code, and some login credentials.
Disney
The group, known as Nullbulge, described as a “hacktivist group,” disclosed that they had leaked approximately 1.2 terabytes of data from Disney’s Slack, a popular communications platform. In an email sent to CNN on Monday, the group asserted that they gained access via “a person with Slack access who had cookies.” The email, purportedly from the group based in Russia, stated that despite initial attempts to remove them, they were able to regain entry.
Disney has acknowledged the incident and stated they are currently investigating the matter. The entertainment giant, encompassing various divisions like ESPN, Hulu, Disney+, and ABC News, faces scrutiny over the security breach.
Nullbulge justified their actions by claiming a desire to safeguard artists’ rights and fair compensation in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). They criticized Disney’s handling of artist contracts and approach to AI, citing these as motivations for the breach. The group had been teasing the data release for weeks on social media, previously hinting at leaks such as visitor data from Disneyland Paris.
The hackers expressed skepticism about the efficacy of negotiating with Disney directly, suggesting that openly communicating their possession of the data would prompt Disney to lock down its systems and retaliate.
This incident recalls the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, which was linked to North Korea and resulted in a significant breach exposing emails, celebrity information, social security numbers, and entire movie scripts.
