Energy giant Shell has confirmed that personal information belonging to employees has been compromised as a result of the recent MOVEit Transfer hack.
The Cl0p ransomware group exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the MOVEit managed file transfer (MFT) product to steal data from at least 130 organizations that had been using the solution. To date, at least 15 million individuals are believed to be impacted.
The Russia-linked cybercrime gang has started naming victims that refused to negotiate on its leak website and Shell was among the first organizations.
In a brief statement issued on Wednesday, Shell confirmed being hit by the MOVEit hack, clarifying that the MFT software was “used by a small number of Shell employees and customers”.
“Some personal information relating to employees of the BG Group has been accessed without authorisation,” the company said.
It’s unclear exactly what type of information has been compromised, but impacted individuals are being notified. Toll-free phone numbers where additional information can be obtained have been made available for employees in Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore, Philippines, UK, Canada, Australia, Oman, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Netherlands, suggesting that affected people may be from these countries.
Shell pointed out that “this was not a ransomware event” — likely referring to the fact that file-encrypting malware was not deployed in the attack — and that there is no evidence of any other IT systems being affected.
Shell confirmed the incident after the Cl0p cybercrime gang published files allegedly stolen from the firm. The group has made available 23 archive files labeled ‘part1’, which could suggest that they are in possession of more data. SecurityWeek was unable to download the archive files so it’s unclear what type of information they contain.
When they published the Shell files, the cybercriminals noted that the company did not want to negotiate.
It’s worth noting that Shell was also targeted by the Cl0p group in 2020, through a zero-day exploit targeting an Accellion file transfer service. The company confirmed at the time that the hackers had stolen personal and corporate data.
Other major organizations that have been named by Cl0p and confirmed being affected by the recent MOVEit exploit include Siemens Energy, Schneider Electric, UCLA, and EY.
Some government organizations have also admitted being hit, but the cybercriminals claim to have deleted all data obtained from these types of entities.
Related: Norton Parent Says Employee Data Stolen in MOVEit Ransomware Attack
Related: MOVEit Customers Urged to Patch Third Critical Vulnerability
Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a managing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
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