Pirate hackers hold Pirates of the Caribbean 5 to ransom

Hackers have targeted Disney, stealing the latest ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie, and are now demanding ‘an enormous amount of money’ in ransom.

Disney boss Bob Iger confirmed that the studio had been targeted during a meeting with ABC employees in New York, and though he did not reveal the movie in question, Deadline reports that it is indeed the latest in the Pirates franchise.

Iger added that Disney is working with the FBI, and will not be paying the ransom.

Hackers have reportedly said that they will release the first five minutes of the film, and then the rest in 20-minute increments if their demands are not met.

Though piracy and more recently illegal streaming and torrenting has dogged Hollywood for years, this is a new angle on the problem.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge’, or ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’, as it’s suffixed in the US, is not due out until May 26.

It’s said that major Hollywood agencies including UTA, ICM and WME have also been targeted.

It’s not the first time that hackers have threatened major studios in recent years, with the hacking of Sony still fresh in the mind of many in Hollywood, thought to have originated in North Korea, which saw vast amounts of confidential data and emails releases in the public domain.

Netflix was also hit with a ransom hack last month, who leaked stolen episodes of season five of ‘Orange Is The New Black’ after the studio refused to pay up.

It’s not known whether the Disney hack is directly related to the recent global hacking that has hit 99 countries around the world, and organisations including the NHS.

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