Over the course of the weekend, numerous locations within the Cinépolis Chile network were victims of a cyberattack that was triggered by an onslaught of customer complaints. The company was required to issue an apology for the incident, while experts speculated on the many factors that may have contributed to the occurrence.
A number of individuals posted recordings they had made using TikTok of the experiences they had had at various theaters. Several individuals demonstrated how, as they were watching some of the movie premieres, the screens inside the rooms went completely dark suddenly. Similarly, as a result of the negative experience that they had, a number of customers were forced to wait in lengthy queues in order to submit their claims to the customer care department.
“This is the customer service line at CineHoyts as a consequence of the hacking of their films throughout the country (…) One of the users of the social network commented on the disorder by saying, “It goes on forever.” Cinépolis issued a statement on its social networks on Saturday, May 13, stating that “due to intervention by third parties in our systems, some functions were affected during the course of the afternoon,” and that as a result, “some of our cinemas will not be able to continue showing movies during the day.”
They also provided information indicating that a total of eight movie theaters were impacted. In a memo that was distributed by CHV Noticias, information security professionals speculated on the causes that may have led to the attack on the theater chain. On this, they noted that one or more individuals had the potential to breach the website of the company, as which is where they digitally host the videos.
On the other side, one expert, pointed out that “the attack could have been carried out with the motives of only doing damage.” It’s also possible that this was done as a way to get material or movies in a digital format, with the intention of pirating them later on.
The fact that users were unable to watch movies in the usual manner as a result of a variety of technical issues prompted them to be curious about the situation. These users had wished to watch movies in the usual manner but were unable to do so. In a similar vein, there were other people who were unable to even enter the rooms.
Information security specialist, currently working as risk infrastructure specialist & investigator.
15 years of experience in risk and control process, security audit support, business continuity design and support, workgroup management and information security standards.
