Shell Targeted by Cl0p Hacking Group in Data-Theft Claim

Shell (LON: SHEL) has confirmed it is investigating a “possible incident” after the ransomware group Cl0p claimed to have stolen roughly 89 gigabytes of data from the energy major, according to a Reuters report published Thursday.

Cl0p, a hacking outfit known for exploiting vulnerabilities in file-transfer software, posted the names of Shell and several other major companies on its website on August 12, claiming to have exfiltrated large volumes of sensitive material. The group alleges the stolen Shell data includes engineering drawings, photographs of company facilities, scans of facility testing reports, and internal project plans.

A Shell spokesperson said the company is “working with our security teams and relevant experts to investigate the situation,” confirming an earlier report from Dutch outlet BNR. Shell has not verified whether any data was actually taken.

Dutch electronics and healthcare technology group Philips (AMS: PHG) was also named by Cl0p, which claims to have stolen approximately 13.5 gigabytes of data from that company, including PDF drawings, diagrams and blueprints. Philips said it had “identified and contained an attempted cybersecurity compromise of a specific enterprise server related to internal data,” adding that the incident had not affected customer-facing systems.

According to Reuters, Cl0p has not published samples of the alleged stolen data from either company, and did not respond to requests for comment sent to two email addresses it advertises publicly. Neither Shell nor Philips has confirmed a breach occurred.

Cl0p has a history of large-scale extortion campaigns exploiting flaws in widely used file-transfer platforms, previously hitting hundreds of organizations worldwide. Further details are expected as investigations continue.