Recently, the hacker group NullBulge claimed to have invaded Disney's internal systems, stolen more than 1TB of data, and publicly leaked it to protest Disney's treatment of artists. The editor of Downcodes will provide a detailed interpretation of this incident and analyze the ins and outs and potential impact of the incident.
The hacker group NullBulge recently claimed to have successfully hacked into Disney's internal communications platform and stolen more than 1 terabyte of data. It is leaking this information online to protest Disney's "anti-art" stance towards artists. The organization said its action was aimed at "protecting the rights of artists and ensuring they are paid fairly for their work".
According to the Wall Street Journal, the documents contain internal conversations at Disney about software development, recruiting, website maintenance and employee planning, dating back to at least 2019. According to Eurogamer, details about upcoming gaming collaborations and announced video game sequels are also beginning to surface via leaked documents.
Nullbulge claims that their goal is to protect the rights and wages of artists, citing "the way Disney treats artist contracts, its attitude toward artificial intelligence, and its disregard for consumers" as the reason they are targeting Disney. The threat of artificial intelligence to the livelihoods of creative professionals was one of the main concerns that prompted Disney animators to unionize and the SAG-AF strike in 2023. Disney has also been criticized for using artificial intelligence to create the end credits of its Disney Plus series The Invasion, and reportedly formed a task force to study the use of artificial intelligence across its portfolio.
In June, NullBulge attracted attention for hacking into a plug-in for Stable Diffusion, a popular artificial intelligence image generator. This plug-in was injected with malware by hackers, leading to further theft of user login credentials. The intrusion into Disney also shows its consistency with its stance against AI-generated art.
NullBulge did not demand a ransom from Disney when it released the information, choosing instead to publish the stolen data immediately so that action could be taken before its potential targets became aware of the attack. An anonymous spokesperson for the group said: "We have some good stuff and the attacks have just begun."
The hack raised questions about its motives. Cybersecurity expert Ilya Kolochenko noted that hacktivists rarely carry out such large-scale attacks to protect intellectual property and artists' rights, arguing that this may be just a smokescreen to hide their true identities and motives.
NullBulge said its intrusion was achieved through a game modification tool installed by a developer that it already controlled. The organization clearly states on its website that it opposes any behavior involving cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence-generated art works, which it believes will harm the creative industry.
Highlight:
1. Hacking group NullBulge claims to have stolen more than 1 terabyte of internal Disney data and leaked it online to protest the company's stance on artists.
2. The organization says its goal is to "protect artists' rights and ensure fair remuneration" without demanding any ransom.
3. NullBulge claimed to have invaded the Disney network through a game modification tool installed by a developer and released a series of leaked data.
The Disney data breach has drawn attention to network security and once again highlighted the contradiction between the development of artificial intelligence technology and the protection of artists' rights. The subsequent development of the incident deserves continued attention, and the editor of Downcodes will continue to follow up and report.