A new wave of cyber extortion is sweeping across global enterprises, and the battlefield is Salesforce CRM. The notorious **ShinyHunters group—tracked internally by Google as UNC6040/UNC6240—**has launched a coordinated series of breaches using vishing (voice phishing) to compromise employee credentials, exfiltrate sensitive customer data, and demand ransoms to prevent public leaks.
Among the victims: Google, Adidas, Qantas, Allianz Life, Cisco, and subsidiaries of LVMH, with some companies reportedly paying hefty Bitcoin ransoms to keep their data off the dark web. Google itself confirmed in June that basic business contact information was stolen from one of its Salesforce instances, underscoring the widespread reach of these attacks.
This episode dives into how vishing has evolved, often bolstered by AI-driven deepfake voices and extensive reconnaissance, to trick employees into approving malicious connected apps disguised as legitimate Salesforce tools. We’ll explore how ShinyHunters are leveraging custom scripts, VPN obfuscation, and multi-extortion tactics—threatening not just data theft, but public leaks and reputational ruin.
We also break down the shared responsibility model of Salesforce security, where organizations—not Salesforce itself—carry the burden of safeguarding their CRM data. With CRM systems considered the “crown jewels” of enterprise operations, these breaches reveal the vulnerabilities created by human error, third-party risk, and insufficient security controls.
Finally, we discuss the proactive measures organizations must adopt: universal multi-factor authentication, least-privilege access, connected app management, IP-based login restrictions, Salesforce Shield monitoring, and robust incident response plans. With cyber extortion costs averaging $4.45 million per breach, and multi-extortion tactics on the rise, the question is no longer if attackers will try—but whether organizations are ready when they do.
#SalesforceBreach #ShinyHunters #UNC6040 #UNC6240 #CyberExtortion #Vishing #VoicePhishing #CRMData #GoogleBreach #Adidas #Qantas #LVMH #Cisco #Allianz #Cybersecurity #DataExfiltration #Ransomware #MultiExtortion #SocialEngineering #SalesforceSecurity #IncidentResponse
