Viking Coca-Cola, a prominent US-based Coca-Cola bottling company, has reportedly fallen victim to a cyber breach orchestrated by the Russia-linked cybercriminal group known as Black Basta.
The breach was exposed when Viking Coca-Cola’s information appeared on a dark web leak site commonly used by criminals to showcase their latest targets. While the specific nature of the compromised data remains undisclosed, the absence of any leaked information suggests that negotiations between the hackers and the company may still be ongoing.
Security researcher Dominic Alvieri was the first to report the alleged breach, shedding light on Black Basta’s operations. Since its emergence in 2022, Black Basta has targeted numerous organizations, with a total of 153 victims identified by the dark-web monitoring platform DarkFeed.
The group employs double-extortion tactics, often gradually releasing stolen data to increase internal and external pressure on the targeted companies, compelling them to pay a ransom.
Although the connection between Black Basta and the notorious Russia-linked cybercrime gang FIN7 is not explicitly confirmed, researchers believe there is an association between the two groups. FIN7, previously exposed in November of the previous year, has been active in the cyber espionage landscape for over a decade.
As the investigation continues, Viking Coca-Cola faces the challenges of negotiating with the cybercriminals while assessing the potential impact of the breach on their operations and customers.
