Possible cyberattack downs UTA computers

United Talent Agency (UTA) suffered a major computer security breach earlier this week that reportedly left agents at its Beverly Hills HQ without access to email.

“On Monday, UTA was the subject of a malware incident – an unfortunate yet common reality of our digital world that can take place regardless of the strong safeguards a company has in place,” a UTA spokesperson tells IQ.

The spokesperson adds that the agency has “no reason to believe any private information about the agency, its employees, or its clients has, in any way, been compromised” and is consulting with “top experts who have experience in these specific matters” to determine the cause of the virus, which is now “well on the way to being resolved”.

|On Monday, UTA was the subject of a malware incident – an unfortunate yet common reality of our digital world”

Reports suggesting a deliberate cyberattack are disputed by UTA. If, however, the agency was deliberately targeted, as some have suggested, the incident follows similar security breaches at Madison Square Garden Company, in which customer credit details were stolen from five of its venues, and Goldenvoice’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival, whose website was accessed by “unauthorised third parties” earlier this year.

Hollywood news site TheWrap, quoting a UTA ‘insider’, suggests the agency was infected with a virus by hackers, who are demanding 25,000 Bitcoins (US$30 million) as a ransom, although UTA denies the rumour.

IQ has contacted UTA for further comment.

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