The cosmetics specialist Nuxe has just been the victim of a computer attack carried out by one of the cronies of the LockBit ransomware gang. In a post on its blog, the now famous criminal organization claims the hacking of this French company renowned for its skincare oils.
?? One #cyberattack against @NUXE has just been claimed on the showcase site of #LockBit. Less than 30 GB of data was allegedly stolen on an unspecified date. #ransomware CC @ransomwaremap pic.twitter.com/cIBRj7rUQf
— Valéry Rieß-Marchive (@ValeryMarchive) January 12, 2023
Malicious hackers ask for the equivalent of 300,000 dollars, in bitcoins or Monero, two cryptoactives, before the expiry of a period of about ten days, to destroy the stolen data. Or 29 gigabytes of files according to their information. To support their extortion attempt, the hackers have, as is customary, published several internal documents.
Computer attack confirmed by Nuxe
But the origin of the two documents presented is not clear. They both refer to a third-party company, a company specializing in microbiology in cosmetics. Nuxe, a medium-sized firm ranked in the world’s top 100 luxury companies, however confirmed the computer attack in Numerama and Parisian on “some of its applications”. While emphasizing that “the immediate mobilization of the teams made it possible to restore their availability as soon as possible”.
The company, which achieved a turnover of 259 million euros in 2019, also indicates that it has filed a complaint and notified the competent authorities – reporting a data breach to the CNIL, for example, is a legal obligation. Likewise, it specifies that it has initiated an internal investigation, by commissioning experts, to understand the nature of the computer hacking.
In recent months, the LockBit franchise, a ransomware available to cybercriminals as a rental, had also attempted to blackmail Thales. The French electronics and defense group had however declared that it had not observed any intrusion into its computer systems. But even though the gang’s boisterous communication is sometimes confusing, cybercriminals often hit the mark. Witness the terrible computer attack against the southern Ile-de-France hospital center at the end of August, which should cost the hospital establishment a total of 7 million euros.