Hold on to your marmalade-filled hats, folks, because we have news that you will believe very much. The company representing the estate of Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington, was recently hacked and the Peruvian bear himself is being held hostage.
Well, not really. As The Sun reports, the hacker group Rhysida – believed to be based in Russia – demanded that the London company pay a ransom to prevent sensitive data from being leaked. This data is likely centered around personal information of people in the company, but it may also include information related to Bond’s estate and Paddington’s intellectual property.
The company has since refused to pay the ransom and involved the Met Police. The company – called The Agency – acknowledged the hack in a letter to clients from boss Judy Edmonds, who wrote: “We have taken measures to ensure the security of our systems and continue to monitor them closely as a priority.”