Hasbro, the toy producer that controls major properties including Peppa Pig and Dungeons & Dragons, has been hacked. It's not yet clear if personal information has been stolen, but given the severity, it seems likely.
In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Hasbro has confirmed it is the victim of a systems breach. The legal disclosure says that Hasbro spotted unauthorized access to the corporate network on March 28.
The discovery prompted the toy giant to perform its security response protocols. The filing adds that there were "containment measures" including taking some systems offline.
It has since launched an investigation with third-party cybersecurity professionals to find out what happened.
A Hasbro spokesperson told TechCrunch that "swift action" had been taken to protect systems and data. However, they didn't comment on how the cyberattack took place.
A long recovery time
In the filing, Hasbro doesn't say what happened specifically, nor does it say the overall impact of the intrusion on the business. However, it is working to maintain continuity of the business as much as possible.
It already has plans in place to continue taking and fulfilling orders and to perform other key business operations.
The disruption could be around for quite some time. Hasbro warns that the interim measures could continue for "several weeks" before everything is resolved, and could result in delays of shipments.
Unknown impact
While Hasbro has been relatively quick to notify the SEC of the intrusion, as it is legally required to disclose, there are still many questions about the breach itself. The biggest question is how much of an impact it will have on consumers, as well as what data is at risk.
So far, the outward effects of the intrusion have led to some elements of Hasbro's website going down for "maintenance."
There is no mention of whether consumer data is at risk at all so far, and so far, Hasbro has declined to comment on that matter. With the nature of Hasbro's business being in toys and recreation, and therefore managing many major children's brands, this is a very delicate situation.
Hasbro is best known for being the company in charge of Dungeons & Dragons, Peppa Pig, Play-Doh, Nerf, Power Rangers, Transformers, and Monopoly.
While the attack could have affected just the corporate network, there's a lot of online services that Hasbro operates that may be at risk. For example, its online version of Magic: The Gathering.
Given the severity and risks involved, Hasbro will be compelled to issue more detail in the coming weeks, at least to pacify worried consumers.
