The Sundance Film Festival box office was hit by a cyber attack on Saturday, temporarily shutting down its box office operation. The annual film festival, which is dedicated to independent and art films, started on Jan. 19 in Park City, Utah.
"Sundance Film Festival had been subject to a cyber attack, causing network outages that shut down our systems," a statement on the festival's official website said.
However, Sundance claims that their shows were not affected and their "artists' voices will be heard."
The announcement about the hacking was made through the festival's official Twitter account at approximately 11:00 a.m PT. This was followed by an update that some segments of its box office have been successfully restored.
Later in the afternoon, the festival claimed that all the segments on its website have become fully operational.
Saturday's hacking reportedly occurred shortly after anti-Donald Trump rally began in the Sundance Film Festival arena. Some have questioned if there any connection between the two incidents, suggesting that the hacking may have been hatched by pro-Trump supporters.
The anti-Donald Trump protest was an all-women rally that was led by comedian Chelsea Handler and included other high-profile royalties like Charlize Theron, Maria Bello, Mary McCormack, and Kristen Stewart.
The anti-Donald Trump rally was a reflection of Sundance's "freedom of spirit," something which festival's organizers are very much proud about.
In the past, hackers have mostly targeted big corporations, stealing their sensitive data. Film festivals have rarely been on the radar of hackers, with Sundance probably being one of the first prominent film festivals to be hit by a hacking scandal.
The Sundance film festival began in 1978 and is today widely hailed as the biggest independent film festival in the world. Last year, the festival attracted 46,660 attendees including a host of celebrated film makers from across the world.