A group of hacktivists known as Nullbulge claims to have leaked thousands of internal Disney channels on Slack, including information about unreleased projects, raw image codes, and some login credentials. The security breach involved a massive theft of approximately 1.2 terabytes of data from the platform’s server. The group explained in an email to CNN that they gained access through “a man with Slack access who had cookies” and is based in Russia.
The email specified that “the user was aware that we had [the cookies], they tried to kick us out once, but let us back in before the second“. Disney, on the other hand, announced on Monday that “they are investigating this matter”.
Nullbulge justified their attack by claiming to seek to protect the rights of artists and ensure compensation for their work, especially in the era of artificial intelligence. “Disney was our target because of how they handle artist contracts, their approach to AI, and their rather blatant disregard for the consumer,” they pointed out in their email.
Artificial intelligence has been a subject of controversy in negotiations between Hollywood actors’ unions and American screenwriters. Screenwriters fear that tools like ChatGPT can write scripts, while actors fear being replaced by computer-generated images.
During the last few weeks, Nullbulge hinted at their plans through their social media channels. For example, in June they posted on Twitter visitor data, reservations, and revenue from Disneyland Paris. The hackers explained that they decided to leak the data because making demands to Disney would be useless. “If we were to say ‘Hello Disney, we have all your loose data’, they would instantly block us and try to eliminate us. In a duel, it’s better to shoot first“, they argued in their email.
