The Venice Film Festival has confirmed it was the victim of a cyberattack that compromised the personal data of accredited participants for this year’s event, including members of the press.
In a notification sent to those affected, including journalists at The Hollywood Reporter, festival organizers said the attack occurred on July 7 when unknown individuals accessed and copied documents stored on the Venice festival servers, exposing data such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, tax codes, and mailing addresses.
Venice said its IT team “intervened promptly, isolating the affected systems and securing them. The competent authorities were immediately informed, and restoration operations were initiated.”
Those concerned about the safety of their data or wanting further information are requested to contact the festival’s data protection officer at: privacy@labiennale.org.
This isn’t the first cyberattack to hit a major European festival. In 2022, the Cannes Film Festival’s online ticketing system was overloaded by what the festival said were bots trying to flood the system.
The 82nd Venice Film Festival runs August 27 to September 9.