Disney has announced that it will be replacing Slack with Microsoft Teams for internal communications following a significant data breach. The transition is expected to be completed by mid-2025.
The decision to stop using Slack comes after Disney experienced a cyber attack that resulted in the theft and distribution of over 1 TB of data. The attack, which occurred in July, involved a hacker group known as “Nullbulge” publicly releasing data from Disney’s archive on Slack. This included 44 million messages, 18,800 Excel spreadsheets, and 13,000 PDF files containing sensitive information about the company’s finances, development plans, and personal details of employees and customers.
Following an investigation, it was discovered that a computer belonging to a software development manager at Disney was compromised, leading to the theft of data from public and private Slack channels. While personal messages were unaffected, the incident prompted Disney to evaluate its internal communication tools.
The decision to transition to Microsoft Teams was made after a thorough review, with a focus on enhancing internal data security. However, the move has been met with some skepticism from employees who are concerned about potential disruptions to workflow and the loss of Slack integrations. Some have also suggested that the decision to switch to Teams may be driven by cost-saving measures in addition to security considerations.
Salesforce, the owner of Slack following its acquisition in 2020, has emphasized the security of the Slack platform and the need for companies to implement measures to prevent phishing attacks and protect employees from social engineering attacks.
Despite the shift away from Slack, Disney will continue to utilize other Salesforce products in various aspects of its operations. The transition to Microsoft Teams is expected to be completed across all departments by the second quarter of 2025.