Coca-Cola has said it is looking into accusations of a data breach after a ransomware gang claimed to have stolen documents from the beverage company. A Coca-Cola representative revealed that the company had already alerted police enforcement about the event.
“We are aware of this matter and are investigating to determine the validity of the claim,” stated Scott Leith, the Coca-Cola communications vice president.
This week, the STORMOUS ransomware claimed to have stolen 161 GB of data from Coca-Cola and attempted to sell it. The stolen data is being offered for around $64,000 by the gang. The ransomware group’s operators made headlines earlier this year after being one of the few to declare complete support for Russia’s leadership during the attack on Ukraine.
According to a statement made by the STORMOUS team in March, it supports the Russian government. If any party from any part of the globe decides to launch a cyberattack or series of cyberattacks on Russia, the gang will be moving in the correct direction and will make every effort to reject the West’s plea.
“Perhaps the hacking operation that our team carried out for the government of Ukraine and a Ukrainian airline was just a simple operation but what is coming will be bigger!!”
According to experts, the gang has existed since the beginning of the year and looks to be financially driven. Despite declaring support for Russia, most of their remarks are written in Arabic. After being “attacked” by unnamed US firms that were able to take down their site, the organization issued a warning against “western unions” and especially companies in the United States.
Coca-Cola, one of the world’s largest corporations, said last month that it was withdrawing out of Russia completely and terminating its activities there following the invasion. They announced $10.49 billion in sales for the first quarter on Monday.
