MIFF releases statement after hacker claims to have breached the details of more than 340,000 customers.
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has said it is responding to a pair of cyber incidents that have affected its customers’ data.
In a statement released on 31 May, MIFF said it had become aware of unauthorised access to its ticketing platform on 29 May, which compromised the names, emails, and phone numbers of some of its customers.
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MIFF noted further access on 30 May, with some customers receiving unauthorised emails and text messages from the festival.
“We understand customers may be concerned by this incident and sincerely regret the uncertainty it may cause. Protecting the personal information entrusted to MIFF and its technology partners is extremely important,” an MIFF spokesperson said.
“We have advised affected customers to remain cautious of unexpected emails or SMS messages that appear to come from MIFF and to avoid clicking links or providing personal information unless they are confident of the source.”
Both incidents involved the third-party Ferve ticketing platform, which MIFF is working with to understand the extent of the breach. According to the festival, the incident has impacted 26,782 sets of customer records, but not any credit card information, which Ferve does not carry. The festival has contacted those customers impacted.
"MIFF has notified the Australian Signals Directorate's Australian Cyber Security Centre and is working through all relevant regulatory and reporting obligations as our investigation continues," MIFF said.
MIFF’s statement comes after a member of a prominent hacking forum said they had breached the film festival and had compromised more than 340,000 MIFF customers.
In a post dated 30 May, the hacker – who calls themselves 2019 – said the data included addresses, customer IDs, email addresses, names, as well as membership and purchasing data.
The data is currently being offered for sale to the highest bidder.
UPDATED 01/06/2026
Added further details & commentary provided by MIFF.
UPDATED 01/06/2026
MIFF has released further commentary regarding the hacker's claims:
"The claim that data relating to 340,000 MIFF customers has been accessed is incorrect. MIFF’s customer database does not contain 340,000 customer records and therefore it is not possible for 340,000 MIFF customer records to have been compromised in this incident.
Based on our current understanding, 26,782 customer records held within the Ferve ticketing platform were affected by this incident. Those affected customers have been contacted directly.
We can also confirm that the dataset impacted in this incident does not include purchase history, booking totals, membership details, credit card numbers or financial transaction data."
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David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.