Since the high-profile hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, cybersecurity has become one of Hollywood’s top concerns as more studios and networks continue to become prime targets.
The biggest and most consequential hack to hit Hollywood was the Sony Pictures hack of 2014. Spurred by the studio’s then-upcoming comedy “The Interview,” about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, North Korean hackers were able to access employee information, emails, unreleased projects and other damaging information.
Netflix fell victim to a hack in 2017 when a group called “The Dark Overlord” stole episodes of “Orange Is the New Black” from a post-production house. When the streamer failed to meet ransom demands, the group released 10 episodes of the series weeks ahead of the scheduled premiere.
After The Dark Overlord successfully released “Orange Is the New Black,” the group took to Twitter promising to target other companies next. The group named ABC its next target in a vague tweet, but did not specify which show or shows it was threatening to release.
When The Dark Overlord took “Orange Is the New Black” from Larson Studios, it also reportedly made off with other unaired shows, including “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “Portlandia.” ABC, NBC, FX, National Geographic, E!, Disney Channel and Lifetime were also contacted by the FBI, who was investigating the incident, to notify them that their work may have been compromised.
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed in a company town hall meeting that the film studio had received a ransom demand from a hacker who claimed to have stolen one of their unreleased films. Reports said the pirated film was “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” though it was never released. Iger later said in an interview that he believed it to be a hoax.
UTA suffered a “malware incident” in April, in which hackers held the company’s computer systems hostage, demanding payment in bitcoin. Meetings were canceled and pushed, with the talent agency effectively shut down as the company raced to respond. Outside investigators concluded that no sensitive information was compromised.
The Sundance Film Festival also suffered a cyberattack in 2017. The box office was forced to go offline for roughly 40 minutes as the festival responded to the situation, but no screenings were affected by the outage. “Our artist’s voices will be heard and the show will go on,” the festival said in a statement.
In the middle of the seventh season run of its biggest hit “Game of Thrones,” HBO suffered a cyber breach in which hackers reportedly obtained a copy of the script for an upcoming episode. Unaired episodes of “Ballers” and “Room 104” were also stolen and released online.
