Banijay has confirmed an internal data breach affecting hundreds of current and former employees. The French media production and distribution company was hit by the attack on Monday, but did not report the incident earlier as it was investigating whether its data had been stolen and leaked.
But now information has been discovered that was published by hackers on the Dark Web.
The leak does not include personal data, but it is possible that the malicious actors have much more data than they published. Information such as bank account details, home addresses, phone numbers and identity information were stored on Banijay's systems, so it is possible that they were also intercepted by the attackers.
Another detail revealed by the investigation is that the hackers targeted the systems ofEndemol Shine International, which was acquired by Banijay for $2.2 billion a few months ago. Both Endemol and Banijay employees have now been informed of the risk of exposure via email.
Banijay also proceeded with publishing a notification regarding the incident on its website, which is a rare and commendable approach.
Banijay is responsible for creating popular shows such as MasterChef, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Voice, Survivor, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal and Big Brother. It has also created the series Mr. Bean, Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror. With such a successful portfolio under its belt, if a ransomware against it is successful, the ransom demands could be huge.
All employees have been advised not to interact with emails they receive, while some systems within the company’s network remain offline. At this stage, the media production company has made no further public comment and urges anyone with additional questions or concerns to email “enquiries@banijay.com.”
