Nike Investigates Ransomware Group’s Claims of Data Breach

Nike is investigating a potential data breach after ransomware group World Leaks claimed on its website that it had leaked 1.4 terabytes of data related to the company’s business operations, Reuters reported Monday (Jan. 26).

“We always take consumer privacy and data security very seriously,” Nike said in the report. “We are investigating a potential cyber security incident and are actively assessing the situation.”

The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said in December that the number of reported ransomware incidents and the amount of reported payments dropped in 2024 after law enforcement disrupted two high-profile ransomware groups.

Reported ransomware incidents and payments had reached an all-time high in 2023, with 1,512 incidents and a total of $1.1 billion in payments. Following the disruption of the ALPHV/Blackcat and LockBit ransomware groups, those figures declined in 2024 to 1,476 incidents and a total of $734 million in payments.

It was reported in December that three men who worked in the cybersecurity industry pleaded guilty to charges related to ransomware attacks they launched with the help of ALPHV/Blackcat in 2023. They extorted one victim for $1.2 million in bitcoin.

Brett Skiles, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami Field Office, said at the time in a press release: “We strongly encourage businesses to exercise due diligence when engaging third parties for ransomware incident response, report suspicious or unethical behavior, and to expeditiously report any ransomware attack to the FBI and our law enforcement partners to safeguard their security and privacy.”

It was reported in October that Salesforce told customers that it would not pay a ransom demanded by a hacking group that threatened to publish client data it claimed to have stolen. The firm said it was aware of extortion attempts and was in contact with affected customers to provide support.

During the same month, it was reported that Oracle was investigating hacks of some customers’ E-Business Suite applications after hackers who said they were affiliated with a ransomware group claimed to have breached the applications. The hackers demanded ransoms, in one case $50 million, from the large organizations they contacted.