Data Breaches & Cybersecurity Within The Film Industry

By Frankie Wallace.

If you pay attention to the media, then chances are you have been seeing more and more stories about cyberattacks. These types of stories tend to tell consumers about how companies lose an enormous amount of customer data, have their entire networks shut down by third parties, or in the case of some governments, find out their elections have been tampered with. It’s in the news so often because it’s becoming a common occurrence, and the repercussions have been extremely negative.

This has also made it into film, of course. Some of the biggest hacking cases in history have affected companies across all industries, from transportation to the manufacturers and retailers of the products you use every day. Considering its prevalence, it makes sense that movies would be made about it. For instance, movies like ‘Snowden’ have addressed real-life issues surrounding cybersecurity and the most perilous consequences our society has seen regarding it.

Unfortunately, cybersecurity mishaps step beyond the topic of our favorite movies and have begun to threaten the movie industry itself. If we as a culture can do better to understand how prevalent cyberattacks are in our society and why, then maybe the film industry can narrow down the risks they themselves face and respond accordingly. Only after the film industry understands these risks will it be able to protect itself against them.

There Has Been a Digital Assault on Our Society

Our society is under persistent attack by cybercriminals, and we’ve feeling the reverberations of this assault long before Edward Snowden ever did anything movie-worthy. Internet hackers have been around for a long time (remember ‘War Games’ with Matthew Broderick?), but there are more opportunities for them to interfere with the world now due to the accessibility of technology.

Because everything is stored on computers nowadays and most everyone has a computer, data breaches have become extremely common. Airlines, banks, schools, and businesses of all sorts have fallen victim to them. It’s an ever-evolving arms race: Though protections are more technically proficient, so are hackers’ abilities.

It’s not just about traditional computers either; the mobile devices you carry in your pocket can also be exploited. Smartphones are gold mines for data breaches. Some parties have found it necessary to destroy their cellphones when data threats increased and there is too much is at stake. Before you get to that point however, using encryption and passcodes, as well as being very careful of what information you access through your mobile device, is important.

The Cyberthreat to Film as We Know It

How does this newfound social focus on cybersecurity affect the film industry? Hollywood is stacked with cash, so surely they have the best cybersecurity measures in the game, right? Well, you might be surprised to know just how much damage cybercrime has already done to the industry.

HBO, Netflix, and Sony have all been victims of severe hacking incidents. And because these companies haven’t put the proper effort toward tightening up their cybersecurity, the personal information and livelihood of actors, movie makers, and film crews have been stolen, putting those people at risk.

It’s not just the people working on movies that could be ruined, though. In some of these cases, unreleased movie information has been leaked. Hackers could ruin premieres, and movie sales could plummet similar to how music sales have, putting hardworking people on the street and debilitating the strength of surprise in entertainment.

Hackernoon explained why the media industry in general is so susceptible to data breaches. You may be surprised to find that the number of parties involved in the film industry plays a large role in this vulnerability:

Hollywood is especially susceptible to cyber security threats due to the sheer number of people who are involved in every movie or television show that is produced. In addition to the core production team, studios typically hire a wide range of freelancers to write music scores, generate special effects, and complete many other tasks that are essential to the success of a film or TV show. While this may be an excellent artistic choice, the long chain of people creates a multitude of security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers.

While the industry itself has a lot of power, that power and decision-making is split among so many people that nothing is completely safe. Making the situation worse, when their employers aren’t protecting them, their sensitive information (as well as the data of film production companies) is vulnerable to attack.

How the Film Industry Can Combat This

Adam Levin, cybersecurity expert and self-proclaimed Game of Thrones fan, raised the importance of cybersecurity in GoT terms, referencing spoilers and leaks, so readers could understand the real-life issue.

On the one hand, you’ve got a massive wall of ice that serves to protect the realm against hostile invaders and zombies defended by an underappreciated force of guardians who are doing all they can to hold the line. On the other, enterprise firewalls assailed by cyber-attackers and botnets, and there’s an equally beleaguered staff tasked with keeping out the bad guys.

Without sufficient protections, you can bet your bottom dollar that winter will come … and likely faster than you might expect.

What Hollywood can do starts with considering their people first — not just the stars of movies, but the people investing their time, funds, and talents into making film what it is. Additionally, film studios can use parts of the large budgets they give out every year to invest in better, actively updated cybersecurity methods.

The film industry needs to prepare for more cyberattacks to keep itself stable. Industry heads need to understand how these things affect society and what threat they pose to the stability of the entertainment business as a whole. Protecting the mystique surrounding new movies and the data of people making these movies is the only way to ensure the industry doesn’t sink. But time will tell whether the parties in charge make this a priority before it’s too late.

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