Hackers Claim to Steal Over 1TB of Data from Novo Nordisk, Demand $79 Million Ransom

(Reuters, Copenhagen, 16th) The cyber extortion group FulcrumSec today claimed to have stolen over 1TB of data from the Danish pharmaceutical giant 'Novo Nordisk' and, after failing to extort $25 million (approximately NT$7.9 billion) from the company, is now considering selling some of the data.

Reuters reported that FulcrumSec emerged in October last year. The group published a lengthy statement on their website claiming to have infiltrated Novo Nordisk's (Novo Nordisk) network systems for over two months and stolen data.

Novo Nordisk is renowned for its drugs treating obesity and diabetes, particularly Wegovy (Weekly) and 'Ozempic'.

FulcrumSec pointed out that the stolen data includes the company's source code, confidential information about marketed and in-development drugs, trial data, information related to the company's processing plants, internal artificial intelligence (AI) model information, and data about employees, doctors, and patients.

A Novo Nordisk spokesperson said via email, 'We are aware of claims that data copied from our systems without authorization has been published online. We take this matter seriously and are maintaining the continued operation of our main platforms while also having contacted the relevant authorities.'

Reuters is currently unable to verify the authenticity of the data published by FulcrumSec.

In an email sent to Reuters, FulcrumSec wrote that, approximately 48 hours after their initial contact with several high-ranking officials of Novo Nordisk, a representative of the company contacted them on March 3rd.

On March 11th, Novo Nordisk stated that they had encountered a cybersecurity incident, with unauthorized individuals accessing a small number of the company's internal IT systems and involving access to some personal data.

FulcrumSec pointed out that, after Novo Nordisk refused to pay the $25 million, they are now 'considering privately selling' some of the data related to specific drugs and other internal information.

Thomas Willkan, the research director of the cybersecurity company Lab-1, who has been monitoring FulcrumSec's activities, said, 'Their technical capabilities and related statements are mostly credible.'

FulcrumSec also mentioned that they will not disclose some of the stolen data, such as information about Novo Nordisk's thousands of employees and doctors, as well as approximately 11,500 de-identified clinical trial patients. (Translation: Hong Pei-ying) 1150617

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