National Amusements confirms data breach affecting tens of thousands

National Amusements, the parent company of media giants Paramount and CBS, has acknowledged a significant data breach compromising the personal information of tens of thousands of individuals. The private media conglomerate revealed in a mandatory filing with Maine’s attorney general that hackers accessed the personal data of 82,128 individuals during a breach in December 2022.

The disclosure of the December 2022 breach emerged a year later, following the company’s recent efforts to inform those impacted. Maine’s filing indicated that National Amusements detected the breach in August 2023, months after the incident occurred. However, the specific nature of the compromised personal information remains undisclosed. The breach notification to Maine authorities outlined financial data theft, including banking and credit card information, along with associated security credentials.

While the company’s human resources chief submitted the breach notification, it remains uncertain whether the stolen data pertains exclusively to employees. National Amusements has provided limited details concerning the breach, refraining from clarifying whether customer or user data was also compromised. The company has not disclosed the cyberattack it experienced or whether any ransom demands were made or fulfilled.

In response to inquiries regarding the incident, National Amusements declined to offer further comments, as reiterated by Molly Morse, a representative from Kekst CNC representing the company. Spokespersons for CBS and Paramount also refrained from providing statements.

National Amusements, renowned for owning over 1,500 cinemas across the United States, is predominantly recognized for its controlling stake in Paramount and CBS following the Viacom-CBS merger in 2019. Paramount recently reported a security breach in August, as disclosed in a filing with the Massachusetts attorney general. Hackers obtained personal details, including customer names, dates of birth, and government-issued identification numbers, although the number of affected individuals remains undisclosed.