Apparently, ransomware gangs ALPHV/BlackCat claim to have executed the attacks, listing Estée Lauder to their illicit sites on the dark web along with an airline, comms regulator, hard drive storage provider, and others.
Among the attacked victims is the file transfer tool MoveIt, attacked by the massive Clop breach in late May. The data theft has caused disturbance to several entities that used MoveIt services and claim around 378 organizations and 20 million individuals as its victims.
However, it is still not clear if Estée Lauder is one of the victims. The company has not revealed the nature or scope of the data that is compromised, but some screenshots tweeted by Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow of posts from Black Cat and Clop claim that the compromised data include ‘customer data.’
Another message by Clop reveals that they have extracted 131 GB of data from the beauty giant. The ransomware gang also condemn the company stating it “doesn't care about its customers, it ignored their security!!!”
Adding to this, the ALPHV/Black Cat screen grab has threatened to expose more data that has been compromised, stating, “Estée Lauder, under the control of a family of billionaire heirs. Oh, what these eyes have seen. We will not say much for now, except that we have not encrypted their networks. Draw your own conclusions for now. Maybe the data was worth a lot more.”
A statement from the beauty brand confirmed the attack, where its statement and disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission mentions an “unauthorized third party” that managed to “access to some of the company’s systems,” but it did not explain what the attackers hoped to gain or what they demanded if anything.
Estée Lauder added that “the incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, disruption to parts of the company’s business operations.” The company is now focusing on “remediation.” It has taken down at least some of its systems and is working with law enforcement to investigate the matter.
In the recent series of ransomware attacks, Estée Lauder has thus joined list with other big names that were a victim, including Walmart, Ikea, McDonald’s, and many others.