Disney has announced it will stop using Slack, the workplace collaboration platform owned by Salesforce, following a recent hacking incident that exposed sensitive company data. The decision comes after an internal review of the security breach raised concerns about the platform’s ability to protect information. According to sources, the hack involved unauthorized access to company communications and confidential data.
This prompted Disney to reevaluate its reliance on Slack as a messaging and collaboration tool. Disney CFO Hugh Johnston revealed in a memo that the majority of the company’s divisions will cease using Slack later this year. Many teams have already started transitioning to alternative enterprise-wide collaboration technologies believed to be more secure.
The data breach, attributed to the hacking group NullBulge, resulted in the leak of over a terabyte of Disney’s corporate data, including thousands of conversations, computer code, and information about upcoming projects.
Disney shifts from Slack after hack
Earlier reports indicated that the breach exposed more than 44 million messages from Disney’s internal communications.
In August, Disney announced an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of the data. NullBulge, known for disrupting software supply chains, exploited vulnerabilities in collaborative coding sites like Hugging Face and GitHub to trick users into downloading harmful files, according to SentinelOne’s threat intelligence and malware analysis team. Disney officially informed employees that the transition away from Slack will be completed by the end of its fiscal quarter.
The company is investigating the incident further and plans to train employees in best practices for handling work-related collaborations and sensitive information to prevent future breaches. Salesforce, the parent company of Slack, noted that while Disney continues to use some of its products, the security of those services remains “rock solid,” according to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. He added that companies must be vigilant in preventing phishing tactics and other common methods used by hackers.
Disney assured investors that the hack would not impact them financially but stressed ongoing efforts to safeguard its communication systems.
