Hackers demand bitcoins for stolen Disney movie

8 years ago - Published in Finance, Fintech Land, Fundamental Analysis

Hackers are claiming to have stolen an upcoming Disney movie and are demanding a ransom, according media reporters. Disney CEO Bob Iger first revealed the hackers' claim in a staff meeting with employees in New York City, Deadline.com and The Hollywood Reporter reported. Disney is working with federal investigators and will not pay the ransom, the reports say.

Movie website Deadline identified Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which opens on May 26, as the target, without revealing its sources, while some film writers speculated on Twitter that Pixar's Cars 3, due for release next month, might have been hit.

The hackers told the company they will release the first five minutes of the movie and then in 20-minute segments if the media company does not pay the fee via bitcoin.

Sci-fi novelist Paul Tassi, who comments on technology and the Internet for Forbes Magazine, said Pirates would be unlikely to suffer were it the target, since its release date is so near.

"Yes, going to a movie in theatres is one of the more exhausting media experiences still left in society, but the kinds of people who are willing to pay money to see Johnny Depp stumble his way through a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie in theaters are probably not the type to download a stolen copy of it right before it comes out," he said.

It comes, however, at a time of increased concern about digital vulnerabilities throughout the business world, including in Hollywood. Hackers recently uploaded an entire season of Orange is the New Black to online file-sharing services before Netflix Inc released the episodes on its streaming service. News of the Disney hacking was reported earlier by the Hollywood Reporter.

More than 200,000 computers in 150 countries were hit by a ransomware cyberattack, described as the largest-ever of its kind, over the weekend. Since Friday, banks, hospitals and government agencies have been among a variety of targets for hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in older Microsoft computer operating systems.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said the US National Security Agency had developed the code used in the attack. The Walt Disney Company didn't respond to requests for comment.