Viking Coca-Cola, one of the largest bottling partners of Coca-Cola in the United States, has been compromised by the infamous BlackBasta ransomware group.
The group, known for their malicious activities, added Viking Coca-Cola under cyber attack victim list on their leak site, which was tweeted later by FalconFeedsio, a threat intelligence service.
According to the tweet, the bottling partner of Coca-Cola is under cyber attack by the BlackBasta ransomware group and has managed to steal valuable information.
The stolen data reportedly includes passports, confidential details, credit card information, and employee records.
US-based bottling partner of Coca-Cola under cyber attack
The Cyber Express promptly reached out to Viking Coca-Cola to verify the authenticity of the attack. As of now, however, no official response has been received from the company, leaving the information about Viking Coca-Cola under cyber attack unverified.
It is important to note that the ransomware group targeted Viking Coca-Cola, a bottling partner of Coca-Cola, and not the official Coca-Cola company itself.
Nevertheless, the current situation of Viking Coca-Cola under cyber attack by hackers sheds light on the ongoing risks faced by organizations associated with the globally recognized beverage brand.
Apart from Viking Coca-Cola being under attack by the ransomware group, the official Coca-Cola company has also faced its fair share of cyber attacks in the past. As a publicly listed corporation, Coca-Cola operates in over 200 countries and boasts a market capitalization of USD 271.58 billion.
Despite its reputation and global presence, the company has been no stranger to the relentless efforts of cybercriminals.
Coca-Cola under cyber attack by threat actors since last year
In April 2022, Coca-Cola Co. faced a similar situation when the group of hackers known as Stormous launched a potential breach campaign against the company’s data systems.
Stormous flaunted their illicit activities on social media, announcing the embezzlement of approximately 161 gigabytes of Coca-Cola’s confidential information. The threat actor offered the stolen data for sale, setting the price at 1.6 bitcoins, equivalent to around $64,000.
A spokesperson representing Coca-Cola then expressed deep concern over the situation and assured the public of their commitment to investigating the matter thoroughly. The company immediately launched an extensive inquiry to validate the claims made by Stormous.
Collaborating closely with law enforcement agencies, Coca-Cola aimed to tackled the issue and has been doing so since its inception. Fast forward to 2023, the BlackBasta ransomware group’s claim the bottling partner of Coca-Cola is under cyber attack again puts the brand name in danger.
This incident serves as a reminder of the ever-present threats organizations face in this digitized world, and how important it is to protect the data. That’s why security companies are investing millions of dollars into security and the need for cybersecurity professionals is skyrocketing.
Black Basta was initially spotted in early 2022 and is known for its double extortion attack, said a threat assessment report by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
The Russian-speaking group not only executes ransomware, but also exfiltrates sensitive data, operating a cybercrime marketplace to publicly release it, should a victim fail to pay a ransom,” said the report.
As the situation unfolds, industry experts, law enforcement agencies, and cybersecurity professionals will closely monitor the developments surrounding the attack on Viking Coca-Cola, which is likely a targeted attack.
“Black Basta has a more targeted approach to choosing its victims rather than relying on spray-and-pray tactics,” noted a Trend Micro report on the ransomware gang.
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