Hackers are modern day criminals who are invisible and operate from unknown locations to destroy the very fabric of civilization by targeting various types of businesses. Recently, they attacked thousands of computers all over the world and it is now the turn of Hollywood. The hackers have zeroed in on Disney and have threatened to leak portions of one of its movies awaiting release unless it is paid a ransom. It could be “Dead Men Tell No Tales” or “The Last Jedi”.
The movie industry is in panic
Sky News reports that Bob Iger, the chief of Disney, has admitted that hackers have threatened to disclose online portions of one of its yet-to-be released movies.
Their demand is for a huge sum in Bitcoins and unless it is met, they will carry out the threat and make the movie public, minute by minute. Disney has not agreed to pay any ransom and is believed to be in touch with the FBI to take necessary corrective action.
The problem that Disney faces is to identify the possible target because it has more than one movie in the pipeline and hence, the confusion. These films are “Dead Men Tell No Tales” which is the next installment of the "Pirates Of The Caribbean" franchise, “Pixar's Cars 3” and the Star Wars movie “The Last Jedi”.
One section of the industry feels that it could be the “Pirates” movie which has Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem in lead roles and is scheduled for release in the UK on 26 May.
Others feel it could be “Pixar's Cars 3” scheduled for June, or next “Star Wars” movie tentatively set for release in December.
Incidentally, the “Pirates” franchise has helped Disney earn over $3.7bn but if the hackers plan to leak the “Star Wars” movie online, it would come as a big blow. “The Force Awakens” brought in $2bn worldwide for Disney and it has kept its fingers crossed over “The Last Jedi” which is expected to bring in still more.
The new age hackers
Disney believes that the threat to “The Last Jedi” is much more than to “Dead Men Tell No Tales” because the latter does not have enough star power and also because its release is in May which could rob the hackers of bargaining time.
Hacking used to be a tool of the Cold War and hackers would be an integral part of the government responsible for developing computer programs in order to peek into the defense readiness of other countries.
However, a stage has now come when certain groups of people have begun to view hacking as a method to get even with others and convert it into a business model to make money. This can be stopped if the world rises as one to share their intelligence and work towards eliminating this evil.
