Hackers Shut Down the Sundance Film Festival Box Office
Cyberattacks — or, as newly elected President Trump would say, “the Cyber” — are an increasingly common part of the world we live in. With most private information and secure data now available online, one tech-savvy computer user can do more damage to an institution than hundreds of lawyers or corporate spies. And while we might think of cyberattacks as being reserved for the Big Evil Corporations of the world, it turns out that not even film festivals are immune from being targeted.
Earlier this afternoon, the Sundance Film Festival box office was knocked offline by a cyberattack from a currently unknown source. According to the festival’s Twitter account (via Variety), the cyberattack does have them in the dark but would not interrupt their screening schedule for the weekend:
UPDATE: According to the official Sundance account, the box office is now back up and running:
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In their coverage of the event, Variety notes that the cyberattack “occurred shortly after Chelsea Handler led a Women’s March in Park City to protest the election of Donald Trump,” wondering aloud if there might be a link between the two events. It’s an odd assertion to make; most of the people protesting in Park City are undoubtedly also advocates of the communal and educational power of art, making any attempts to keep people out of film screenings pretty much the antithesis of their demonstration.
Meanwhile, those who aren’t fans of progressive art probably have bigger fish to fry than the Sundance box office. Besides, anyone on social media today knows that the protests in Park City are one small part of a larger series of protest across the country. It’ll be interesting to see how this story develops, but best of luck to everyone trying to screen their movies at Sundance. Fingers crossed that technology doesn’t serve as a barrier to your art today.