Shari Redstone’s National Amusements reported that it was hit with a data breach that saw hackers steal personal information of more than 80,000 people late last year.
The company, the corporate parent giant of Paramount Global and CBS and owner of the 1,500-screen theater chain Showcase Cinemas, said in a legally required filing that financial data of 82,128 people was nicked in a breach that happened between Dec. 13 and 15, 2022. In addition to banking and credit card information, the thieves took security codes, passwords and personal identification numbers.
“When we became aware of the incident, we engaged a leading forensic cybersecurity firm to investigate and contain it. As we clearly disclosed, based on our investigation, there is no indication of any identity theft or fraud as a result of this event,” the company said in a statement to TheWrap. “However, out of an abundance of caution, we have notified potentially affected individuals to encourage preventative measures. We take information security very seriously and continue to undertake enhancements to our processes and procedures.”
The company didn’t discover the intrusion until Aug. 23, National Amusements said in the filing with the Maine attorney general. In a sample notification letter to the affected individuals, the company said it does not have evidence of any identity theft or fraud at this time, but is offering those impacted free credit monitoring services if they enroll by March 15, 2024. It also offered a hotline number for those who want more information.
The filing was submitted by National Amusements senior vice president of human resources Brenda Monacelli. Typically, such filings, including last week’s notice from Comcast of a massive breach affecting 35.9 million Xfinity customers, are submitted by corporate attorneys.
The filing from an HR chief fueled speculation at TechCrunch that the breach involved the company’s employees.
TechCrunch also noted that National Amusements filed a similar report of a data breach with the Massachusetts attorney general in August, regarding a breach between May and June. It’s not clear how many individuals that hack impacted.
A representative of National Amusements did not immediately respond to a request for more details Tuesday.
The disclosure comes amid reporting that Redstone is looking to sell a portion or all of Paramount Global, or possibly the controlling stake in the entertainment giant that she holds through National Amusements, which is a private company.
