Yutaka Sejiyama, a threat researcher at Macnica, told BleepingComputer that 10 out of the 46 companies posted on World Leaks' data leak site had been using an SMA 100. World Leaks stole data from the environment during the attack, but BleepingComputer has learned that this data is believed to be synthetic test data used in product demonstrations and trials. "Data used in the solution center is primarily synthetic (fake) data, publicly available datasets used solely for product demonstration purposes or Dell scripts, systems data, non-sensitive information and testing outputs. The Dell Customer Solution Centers are partitioned from the rest of Dell's customer-facing network and internal systems, with customers shown multiple warnings not to upload private data to the labs. "A threat actor recently gained access to our Solution Center, an environment designed to demonstrate our products and test proofs-of-concept for Dell's commercial customers," Dell told BleepingComputer. A newly rebranded extortion gang known as "World Leaks" breached one of Dell's product demonstration platforms earlier this month and is now trying to extort the company into paying a ransom. Dell acknowledged the incident to BleepingComputer, confirming that the threat actor had breached its Customer Solution Centers platform, which is used to demonstrate Dell products and solutions to customers. World Leaks is a rebrand of the Hunters International ransomware, which shifted its focus away from file encryption toward pure data extortion. While the threat actors likely believe it contains valuable data, as it includes sample medical data and financial information, this data is reportedly entirely fabricated. Instead, the threat actors now focus on stealing data in extortion attacks, utilizing a custom-made data exfiltration tool. Since its launch, World Leaks has published data from 49 organizations on its data leak site. World Leaks affiliates are also linked to the recent exploitation of end-of-life SonicWall SMA 100 devices, where threat actors installed a custom OVERSTEP rootkit. BleepingComputer asked Dell how the company was breached, but was told it would not share this information as the breach is still under investigation. BleepingComputer has learned that the only legitimate data stolen in the attack is a very outdated contact list.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Mon, 21 Jul 2025 11:35:14 +0000