Accenture Hacked: “Hackers published almost 2,400 files to the Dark Web,” CNBC says

Hackers are having a field today. As we reported earlier today, a group of hackers reportedly returned $260 million of the $600 million stolen back to crypto platform Poly Network in one of the largest cyber breaches.

Now, hackers have struck again. This time, the target of the cyberattack is Accenture, the consulting giant that started out as the business and technology consulting division of now-defunct accounting giant Arthur Andersen following the collapse of Enron. In 2000, Andersen spun off most of its consulting business by forming Accenture, but the firm still keeps some of the consulting business in-house.

According to the report from CNBC, Accenture was targeted by a ransomware hacker who claimed to have penetrated the company’s defenses and vow to release a cache of stolen data in “in coming hours.”

CNBC Senior Washington Correspondent Eamon Javers reported said that a hacker group using Lockbit Ransomware reported they have hacked the consulting firm Accenture and will release data in several hours, CNBC has learned. “They are also offering to sell insider Accenture information to interested parties,” Javers wrote.

A hacker group using Lockbit Ransomware says they have hacked the consulting firm Accenture and will release data in several hours, CNBC has learned. They are also offering to sell insider Accenture information to interested parties.

— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) August 11, 2021

“Through our security controls and protocols, we identified irregular activity in one of our environments. We immediately contained the matter and isolated the affected servers,”  Accenture said in a statement on Wednesday, according to another report from Reuters.

“We fully restored our affected systems from backup, and there was no impact on Accenture’s operations, or on our clients’ systems.”

In another tweet, Javers stated that “Accenture confirms the hack, but minimizes the scale of the damage. Per Javers, Accenture said in a statement, “Through our security controls and protocols, we identified irregular activity in one of our environments. We immediately contained the matter and isolated the affected servers.”

Accenture confirms the hack, but minimizes the scale of the damage saying in a statement: “Through our security controls and protocols, we identified irregular activity in one of our environments. We immediately contained the matter and isolated the affected servers.”

— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) August 11, 2021

Even though Accenture downplayed the attack, time we tel as the hacker group vowed to release a massive amount of Accenture’s data in their possession.

Update-1  4:20 PM EST: CNBC Senior Respondent Eamon Javers reported about an hour ago that “hackers have now published almost 2,400 files to the Dark Web, according to CNBC analysts at Q6 cyber.” Javers added that the “files appear to be PowerPoints, case studies, quotes, and the like. No comment yet on the theft from Accenture.”

These hackers have now published almost 2,400 files to the Dark Web, according to CNBC analysts at Q6 cyber. The files appear to be PowerPoints, case studies, quotes and the like. No comment yet on the theft from Accenture.

— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) August 11, 2021

Update-2  4:25 PM EST – Article Title changed.

Old Title: “Accenture Hacked: “If you’re interested in buying some databases, reach us,” hackers say.”

New Title: “Accenture Hacked: “If you’re interested in buying some databases, reach us,” hackers say.”

Update-3  5:35 PM EST: According to Cyble, a Y Combinator-backed cyber risk intelligence tech startup that empowers global organizations with darkweb and cybercrime monitoring and mitigation services, the hacker group alleged they have gained access to databases of over 6TB and demanding $50M as a ransom. The group also alleged it was an insider job by someone who is still employed at the company.

https://twitter.com/AuCyble/status/1425422006690881541