Disney Studios on Tuesday said it had received a ransom threat from hackers claiming they they would make one of their upcoming films public before its official release date on May 26. Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told ABC employees about the ransom threat, which the company has reportedly refused to pay, at a town hall meeting on Monday, The Hollywood Reporter said.
While Iger did not specify which film, Deadline reported that it is the latest in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Dead Men Tell No Tales. The CEO said the studio was collaborating with federal investigators.
The hackers have reportedly demanded a payment in bitcoins and threatened to release the film in a series of 20-minute sections if they do not receive it soon.
A major cyber attack has targeted several nations during the past few days, bringing operations at hospitals, telecommunications firms and other companies to a halt. Microsoft, whose Windows XP systems were hit by the attack, had said that the violation should serve as a “wake-up call” to governments to report vulnerabilities instead of stockpiling or exploiting them. The breach affected around two lakh people in over 150 countries. The IT giant has launched an upgrade that addresses the loophole, but a majority of users have yet to install it.
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