The Sundance Film Festival was the target of some hackers during the weekend, having its box office shut down for a brief period.
That said, the cyberattack didn't have any impact on the screenings schedule, as the systems went back to normal operations within an hour.
The Attack And The Screenings
The incident wasn't anything major, and it caused only a slight inconvenience for the Sundance Film Festival.
Still, it was enough to get a response from the organizers on Twitter.
We have been subject to a cyberattack that has shut down our box office. Our artist's voices will be heard and the show will go on.
— SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) January 21, 2017
More than that, they also posted a message on their website when the attack occurred, which has now been taken down.
"Sundance Film Festival has been subject to a cyberattack, causing network outages that has shut down our box office ... All screenings will still take place as planned. The show must go on and our artists' voices will be heard," they said (via The Verge).
Right after temporarily closing down, the people behind the festival promised that "screenings will take place as planned." Dutifully so, they quickly followed up with an update to let everyone know everything's back up.
Following the cyberattack, our team is working hard to get our systems back up asap. Screenings will take place as planned. #Sundance — SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) January 21, 2017
Update: Online ticketing for future shows is back up. #Sundance — SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) January 21, 2017
Who Is The Culprit?
One of the questions that naturally comes to mind after such an episode is, who did it?
Well, no one is really sure at this point, as nobody has stepped up so far to claim responsibility for the hack, which is unlike how OurMine ran things when it victimized high-profile names in the tech world such as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, to name a few.
The Timing, The Reason: The Movies Or The Women's March?
According to the IndieWire, the attack happened on the same day when several movies such as Mudbound, Step, The Hero, The Yellow Birds, and Chasing Coral were scheduled for showing. However, there seems to be little reason for anyone to attempt throwing the festival off track because of them.
On top of that, though, the outlet also mentions that the hacking occurred on the same day as the Women's March in Park City, a political rally that was held in protest against the recently elected president of the United States Donald Trump.
Variety is also singing a similar tune as IndieWire, but despite the speculations, it's still too unclear to tell whether or not the cyberattack had anything to do with the march.
Wrapping Up
To boil things down, the Sundance Film Festival was attacked by hackers, but the damage wasn't enough to affect screenings. As for who did it and the motive, they're still unknown so far.
The Sundance Film Festival kicked off on Jan. 19, and it's set to last until Jan. 29.
What do you think of the hackers and the cyberattack aimed at the program? Feel free to hit us up in the comments section below and let us know.
