National Entertainment confirms cyber attack; According to Paramount and CBS Parent, 82,000 people are affected

UPDATED with company statement: Shari Redstone’s National Amusements, the majority shareholder of Paramount Global, confirmed that the company was the victim of a hacker attack that affected more than 82,000 people.

The parent company of Paramount Global and CBS and owner of the 1,500-screen Showcase Cinemas chain said in a regulatory filing with the Maine attorney general that hackers stole personal information from 82,128 people in a December 2022 data breach has. Details of the breach were made public. It came to light last week when the company began notifying those affected.

According to the filing, the company discovered the hack, which took place between December 13 and 15, 2022, eight months later in August, but did not say what specific personal information was compromised. The filing noted that hackers also stole financial information such as bank account numbers or credit card numbers, as well as security codes, passcodes, passwords or PINs.

“When we became aware of the incident, we retained a leading forensic cyber security firm to investigate and contain it,” National Amusements said in a statement to Deadline. “As we have made clear based on our investigation, there is no evidence of identity theft or fraud as a result of this event. However, out of an abundance of caution, we have notified potentially affected individuals to encourage preventative measures. We take information security very seriously and are constantly improving our processes and procedures.”

According to a filing with the Massachusetts attorney general, Paramount disclosed a separate security breach in August in which hackers stole customers’ personal information, including customer names, dates of birth, social security numbers or other government-issued identifying information, including a driver’s license. license or passport. Figures and information related to the customer’s relationship with Paramount.

National Amusements’ security comes amid reports that Redstone is considering selling a majority stake in the company.

Paramount Global, led by Redstone as majority shareholder chairman and CEO, is going through a long difficult period and speculation abounds about the company’s future as a stand-alone company.