Hollywood payroll company American Residuals & Talent suffered a “data security breach,” according to a SAG-AFTRA statement obtained by TheWrap on Wednesday. This comes less than two weeks after hackers infiltrated Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“Some SAG-AFTRA members have received notice from American Residuals and Talent, Inc., d/b/a ART Payroll, regarding a data security breach at their company,” the statement read. “The breach may have affected the data of individuals who have received payments from ART Payroll.”
ART Payroll deals heavily with SAG-AFTRA member contracts and payroll services, but it’s unclear what portion of the actors guild’s 160,000 members might be affected.
“We are working with ART Payroll to ensure all proper steps are taken to mitigate this data security breach,” SAG-AFTRA’s statement continued.
American Residuals & Talent has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The Sony hacking left the studio and its employees offline without phone or e-mail for many days. In addition, the as-yet unnamed hackers leaked documents regarding employee salaries and other sensitive corporate matters to media outlets.
Sony has also seen several of its films leaked online prior to their theatrical release, which will surely cut into the company’s profits, though studies have shown that awareness levels for those films has risen dramatically.
Some media reports have suspected North Korea of being behind the attack, since the country is lampooned in Sony’s upcoming James Franco–Seth Rogen comedy “The Interview,” but there’s no evidence to suggest that country is responsible.
Read the full statement that SAG-AFTRA sent to its members:
“Some SAG-AFTRA members have received notice from American Residuals and Talent, Inc., d/b/a ART Payroll, regarding a data security breach at their company. The breach may have affected the data of individuals who have received payments from ART Payroll.
We are working with ART Payroll to ensure all proper steps are taken to mitigate this data security breach.
Should you have any questions about this matter, please contact ART’s confidential inquiry line between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday at (888) 644-7473. You can also contact John Baldrica in SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles office at (323) 549-6564, or Noris Boccanfuso at (212) 827-1488 in SAG-AFTRA’s New York office.”