- The organizers confirm to the Venice participants affected by a data violation
- The names and contact details were included in the disclosed data
- Entertainment is an increasing objective for attacks
The Venice Film Festival confirmed that it had recently suffered a data violation, the pirates who would have accessed the personal information of the participants, including the journalist.
The organizers confirmed that the attack occurred on July 7, 2025, with journalists from The Hollywood Reporter Confirming that they had received letters of notification of violation revealing the incident.
Assigned data may include names, email addresses, telephone numbers, postal addresses and even tax codes for those who were eligible for VAT reimbursements, depending on the report.
Participants in the Venice Film Festival affected by the data violation
During the violation, unauthorized people accessed and copied documents stored on the festival servers, although the computer team “intervened quickly, insulating affected and secure systems”.
“The competent authorities were immediately informed and catering operations were launched,” added the IT workers in Venice.
Although the violation is supposed to have a limited impact – not involving organizational data, payments, reservations or ticket office – the scope of the data collected could still endanger individuals.
Under article 33 of the EU GDPR, controllers must inform the supervisory authority within 72 hours of awareness of a violation – delayed disclosure may result in a regulatory examination and potential fines. It is not known when the authorities have become aware of the incident, but the letters seem to have started to arrive with people affected on August 5 or 6.
Venice is not the only one to be affected by cybercriminal activity – During Cannes 2022, the bots submerged its new online ticket portal.
Konbriefing in Germany explains that the entertainment sector can be a particularly attractive environment for attackers who seek to access high -value personal data.
Venice participants should consider modifying passwords and activating multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect accounts, but they should also be aware of the potential phishing attempts at Venice-related activities, including the Biennale.
