A battle line has been drawn in the sand: Artists vs AI . A group of hacktivists calling themselves NullBulge has taken a dramatic step in the fight against AI-generated imagery, leaking over a terabyte of data from Disney‘s internal communication platform, Slack.
NullBulge claims to be motivated by a desire to “protect artists’ rights and ensure fair compensation for their work.” This stands in stark contrast to the typical hacker playbook of demanding ransoms. Instead, they’ve opted for a swift and public release of the data, which reportedly includes photos, conversations, and details on unreleased projects.
Their reasoning? Negotiating with a giant like Disney would be pointless. “The attack has only just started, but we have some good sh**,” an anonymous NullBulge spokesperson declared.
The group’s access point? Apparently, a “man with Slack access who had cookies.” Their motivations, however, remain shrouded in some mystery. While NullBulge claims to be fighting for artists, some cybersecurity experts believe it could be a smokescreen.
“It’s unlikely true hacktivists would go to such lengths to protect intellectual property,” says Ilia Kolochenko, CEO of ImmuniWeb.
This attack does, however, align with NullBulge’s previous actions. Last month, they targeted a plugin for the popular AI image generator Stable Diffusion, injecting malware to steal login credentials. NullBulge claims they breached Disney’s Slack by compromising a video game mod installed by a developer with access.
Their website leaves no room for doubt about their stance on AI art: “We believe AI-generated artwork harms the creative industry and should be discouraged.” They further condemn “crypto promotion” and “any theft from artists.”
This unprecedented hack raises critical questions about the future of art, the power of AI, and the lengths some will go to protect their beliefs.