A hacker group called 'Nullbulge' has allegedly cracked Disney’s internal communication servers on Slack, claiming to steal 1.1 terabytes (TB) of data which they say includes files and information on unreleased projects, unpublished concept art and various security credentials and personnel details.
Disney has yet to confirm or deny the truth of the hack and none of the files have been released online at time of writing.
Generally, black-hat hackers will demand a ransom from the victim to stop the release of the stolen information.
That means the likelihood of the stolen data making its way onto the internet depends entirely on whether Disney is willing to play ball.
What could have been compromised?
As the files are not publicly available, we can only speculate as to their contents.
There are some likely candidates in terms of intellectual property (IP) however, given Disney’s generally prolific content release schedule.
The new Deadpool movie will be out later this month, joined by more Marvel-related content like Agatha All Along, a side bar to the successful 'WandaVision' TV series, and new additions to the Daredevil and Spiderman franchises.
Disney also announced a collaboration with Epic Games in February this year, which includes a US$1.5 billion investment to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games.
The partnership involves an all-new games and entertainment universe that Disney says will expand the reach of its beloved stories and experiences, a huge multi-year project that could involve multiple development studios, IPs and content contributors.
It’s possible internal files, communications, concept art and even clips or videos of unreleased games, movies and TV series may have been compromised in the hack, with potential to undermine Disney’s deal with Epic and delay its release schedule, should there be truth to Nullbulge’s claims.