A cybercriminal gang claims to have stolen data from dozens, if not hundreds, of companies after IT provider Salesforce confirmed a potential intrusion targeting customers.
The group, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, has bragging about the breaches, and teasing it’ll reveal more details on Nov. 24. “Early posts include claims of 300 compromised organizations,” says cybersecurity vendor SOCRadar, which notes the cybercriminal group is posting its claims on a Telegram channel.
There are signs that the breach is legit. On Thursday, Salesforce disclosed that it had identified “unusual activity” involving customer applications built with its Gainsight platform.
“Our investigation indicates this activity may have enabled unauthorized access to certain customers’ Salesforce data through the app’s connection,” Salesforce says. In response, the company revoked “all active access and refresh tokens associated with Gainsight-published applications.”
It’s unclear how the hackers breached the Gainsight apps. But Salesforce says “there is no indication that this issue resulted from any vulnerability in the Salesforce platform.”
(Credit: SOCRadar)
We also don’t know what kind of data the group stole, and if any of it was sensitive. But in promoting the breach, Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters posted screenshots suggesting it had internal access to cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike.
In response, Crowdstrike confirmed to BleepingComputer that a company insider shared screenshots with an unnamed threat actor, without elaborating. As a result, security researchers are wondering if Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters paid an insider at CrowdStrike for access when the group has been spotted trying to recruit employees into their hacking schemes.
For now, Crowdstrike has only told us: “Our systems were never compromised and customers remained protected throughout. We have turned the case over to relevant law enforcement agencies.” The company also said, “we are not affected by the Gainsight issue and all customer data remains secure,” noting the malicious insider was a separate incident.
In the meantime, the potential breach emerges over a month after Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters previously targeted Salesforce customers by hitting a third-party provider, Salesloft, that integrates with Salesforce software. The gang claimed to have stolen close to 1 billion records from 39 brands, and is pressuring victim companies into paying up to prevent a leak of their data.
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The attacks underscore the growing threat from Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters, which comprises three cybercrime gangs: Scattered Spider, LAPSUS, and Shiny Hunters. Although law enforcement has nabbed at least some of the gang members over the years, it looks like the groups are still active through a new organization.
A spokesperson for the group also told Databreaches.net that it will publish a new dedicated leak site that’ll share the stolen information unless Salesforce complies with its demands.
“They further state that when combined with their earlier breach of Salesloft/Drift, their data-leak site will include nearly 1,000 organizations, including multiple Fortune 500 firms,” SOCRadar adds.
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Michael Kan
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I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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