Dark web actor 888 on BreachForums has alleged a Heineken data breach. The cyber intrusion, according to the threat actor’s post, surfaced on the dark web forum on Monday and alleged leaked databases containing information about “8,174 employees from several countries”.
The Cyber Express has analyzed parts of the sample data provided by the threat actor and found that it contains sensitive information about the company’s employees, including ID numbers, emails, and roles of employees within the organization.
This dataset is highly sensitive as threat actors could use this data for various malpractices including phishing, blackmailing, and impersonating employees and managers.
Decoding the Heineken Data Breach Claims
The threat actor, identified as 888 has claimed similar breaches in the past and for this cyber intrusion, the hackers have listed the names of several employees, along with their email addresses and their work profiles.
The employee names and related email addresses, together with their responsibilities at Heineken, were identified as “sample” in the shared data.
The Cyber Express has contacted Heineken to find out additional information regarding the veracity of the data breach. However, at the time of writing this, no official statement or response has been received, thus the allegations regarding the Heineken data leak remain unsubstantiated.
Heineken’s website seems to be operating regularly in spite of the purported Heineken data leak. This suggests that the attack may have been directed at particular datasets or databases rather than the company’s websites.
This observation points to a more focused strategy on the part of the threat actor, who may be trying to obtain confidential employee data without wreaking havoc on the system by deploying techniques like DDoS attacks or website vandalism.
Previous Cybersecurity Incident
Heineken has faced cybersecurity issues before, prior to this event. Over 1.5 million people were impacted by a significant Dutch data breach that the organization was involved in in March 2023. This specific Heineken data leak, which involves the software provider for a market research agency, compromised information from multiple sources, including respondents to surveys for Heineken-sponsored events.
Personal information such as gender, age, education, province, and email addresses were among the data leaked in the previous incident. Heineken, along with other affected entities, promptly notified individuals impacted by the breach and reported the incident to the relevant authorities, including the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
As for the current claims by TA 888, this is an ongoing story and The Cyber Express will be closely monitoring the situation. We’ll update this post once we have more information on the alleged breach by 888 or any official confirmation regarding the authenticity or the denial of the intrusion.
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