Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is investigating claims by cyber extortion group FulcrumSec, which alleges it stole more than a terabyte of data from the pharmaceutical company and is considering selling portions of the information after an unsuccessful $25 million ransom demand.
FulcrumSec Claims Months-Long Access To Company Systems
Citing a message posted by FulcrumSec on Tuesday, Reuters reported that the group spent more than two months inside Novo Nordisk’s networks collecting data.
The hackers claimed the stolen information includes source code, proprietary details related to marketed and unreleased drugs, clinical trial information, employee, physician, and patient data, details concerning production facilities, and information tied to the company’s internal artificial intelligence models.
Novo Nordisk acknowledged the allegations in a statement provided to Reuters. The company said it is aware of claims that data allegedly copied from its systems without authorization has been published online.
Hackers Detail Alleged Contact With Novo Nordisk
FulcrumSec told Reuters that representatives from Novo Nordisk contacted the group on June 3, approximately 48 hours after the hackers initially reached out to unnamed company executives.
According to the group, the company used a Proton Mail address to communicate and verified its identity by requesting specific files that, FulcrumSec claimed, only Novo Nordisk would have known to ask for.
Reports Suggest More Than 700,000 Files Were Taken
The cybersecurity-focused blog DataBreaches.net reported on June 15 that FulcrumSec said it gained access to Novo Nordisk’s network in March.
The blog also reported that the group shared alleged correspondence with the company beginning June 1 and provided a list of more than 700,000 files totaling roughly 1.3 terabytes of data.
FulcrumSec said it would withhold information related to operational technology and software used to interact with sensors and machinery at Novo Nordisk manufacturing facilities as part of what it described as a “harm-reduction strategy.”
Separately, malware research site VX-Underground reported on Monday that an unnamed hacker had compromised Novo Nordisk. FulcrumSec stated that the incident referenced in its post was unrelated to its own operation.
NVO Stock Price Activity: Novo Nordisk shares were up 1.93% at $44.95 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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