Disney to ditch Slack after major security breach: Microsoft teams identified as potential replacement

Disney is set to move away from Slack following a significant data breach that resulted in the exposure of millions of internal messages and sensitive documents. The entertainment giant announced in a memo to staff that the migration from Slack will be completed by the second quarter of 2025, marking a substantial shift in its internal communication strategy.

“I would like to share that senior leadership has made the decision to transition away from Slack across the company,” Hugh Johnston, Disney's chief financial officer, said in the email to employees on Wednesday. "Our technology teams are now managing the transition off Slack by the end of Q1 FY25 for most businesses.”

The move comes in response to a breach by the hacking group "Nullbulge," which published a staggering 1.1 TB of data stolen from Disney's internal Slack archive in July. The exposed data includes 44 million messages exchanged between Disney employees, 18,800 spreadsheets, and more than 13,000 PDFs. Among the sensitive information leaked were details about Disney's financial strategies, as well as personally identifiable information (PII) about staff members and customers.

The incident has raised alarms across the tech industry, with critics questioning the robustness of Slack's security features. However, Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce (the parent company of Slack) was quick to defend his platform. In an interview with Bloomberg last week, the CEO explained that security is two sided. "Our security is rock-solid," Benioff said. "But there’s no finish line when it comes to security. Companies also need to take their own steps to prevent phishing attacks and social engineering.”

The breach, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, highlighted vulnerabilities in Disney’s internal security protocols. The company has since been focused on damage control, particularly as the breach included not just business-related information but also private details that could lead to reputational and financial consequences.

While Disney has not yet officially announced which communication platform will replace Slack, industry experts suggest that the company may be leaning towards Microsoft teams.