Hackers claim Disney data theft in protest against AIgenerated artwork Hacking The Guardian

pNullBulge group said it was leaking files from Disneys internal Slack channel to protect artists rightsppHacktivists claim to have stolen more than a terabyte of data from Disneys internal chat platform and are leaking the information online in a protest against what they say is the companys antiartist stanceppThe group which calls itself NullBulge has been active since at least May It claims to be motivated by a desire to protect artists rights and ensure fair compensation for their work On Friday it published the entirety of Disneys internal Slack channel online through the decentralised BitTorrent filesharing platformppUnlike many corporate hackers NullBulge seems not to be interested in financial rewards The group did not publicly request a ransom from Disney and posted the first selection of files from its stolen dataset almost immediatelyppHere is one I never thought I would get this quickly the groups anonymous spokesperson said alongside the initial release Disney Yes that Disney The attack has only just started but we have some good shitppOthers question the groups motivations however Ilia Kolochenko the chief executive of the cybersecurity firm ImmuniWeb said the claims could simply be a well thoughtout smokescreen to mask the true identities and real motives of the hackersppHacktivists are highly unlikely to run operations of such scale to protect intellectual property and the rights of artists Kolochenko addedppSign up to TechScapeppAlex Herns weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our livesppafter newsletter promotionppNonetheless NullBulges methods have previously been in tune with its stated ideology In June a popular plugin for the AI image generator Stable Diffusion was found to have been compromised by the group That tool which provided an easy to use interface for the image generator was updated to include malware from the hackers which they used to steal further login credentials and extend their footprint in turnppThe group says it breached the Disney network through a developer who installed another tool it had compromised a video game modppIts website features something close to a mission statement You Hacked Me Why it asks We are sorry we had to do that to you but we only do it if you have committed one of our sinsppCrypto Promotion We do not condone any form of promoting crypto currencies or crypto related productsservices AI artwork We believe AIgenerated artwork harms the creative industry and should be discouraged Any form of Theft Any theft from Patreons other supportive artist platforms or artists in generalppEven the name of the group is evocative NullBulges mascot is an anthropomorphic furry lion covered in blue slime with a noticeable bulge in its crotchppIn a statement to the Wall Street Journal NullBulge added that it released the data immediately because it felt it would be ineffective to make demands of Disney If we said Hello Disney we have all your slack data they would instantly lock down and try to take us out In a duel you better fire firstp