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In a bold public stance, Salesforce has declared it will not negotiate with or pay hackers who claim to hold sensitive data from 39 major companies—some collected via multi-cloud attacks and social engineering campaigns. The threat actors, claiming affiliations with groups such as Scattered Spider, Lapsus$, and ShinyHunters, allege they possess up to 1 billion records.
What Happened: The Extortion Threat Unfolds
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The hackers published a leak site alleging they had harvested data linked to 39 global companies.
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The claim includes that the data was accumulated through voice phishing (vishing) attacks where employees were tricked into installing a malicious version of Salesforce’s Data Loader tool.
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Another tactic was to use stolen OAuth tokens from an integration (Salesloft Drift) to access Salesforce client environments and hunt for credentials.
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So far, Salesforce maintains that its platform itself was not compromised, and the threats relate to client-side vulnerabilities or integrations, not core Salesforce infrastructure.
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The company is actively investigating with external forensic teams and cooperating with law enforcement.
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In a strong messaging response, Salesforce told customers: “We will not engage, negotiate with or pay any extortion demand.”
Key Risks & Attack Techniques Highlighted
1. Social Engineering & Vishing
Attackers impersonated IT support or internal staff to manipulate employees into installing malicious software. This approach bypasses many technical controls by targeting human trust.
2. Compromised Third-Party Integrations
Using vulnerabilities in third-party tools (like Salesloft Drift), attackers leveraged OAuth tokens and API access to infiltrate Salesforce customer environments.
3. Data Harvest vs Platform Breach
Rather than attacking core Salesforce systems directly, the threat actors appear to have targeted clients’ Salesforce instances via compromised credentials and integrations. This emphasizes the risk of indirect attack chains.
4. Mass Scale & Extortion Pressure
The group claims possession of up to 1 billion records and is applying heavy extortion pressure across multiple companies at once, rather than targeting a single victim.
Why This Matters — Especially for SaaS & Cloud Customers
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Even if a platform provider is secure, third-party tools, integrations, and client configurations can be exploited as stepping stones.
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Organizations often underestimate trust relationships, API integration risk, and token lifetimes.
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Attackers are increasingly using psychological tactics (vishing, impersonation) to bypass defenses.
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This incident underscores the importance of defense in depth: platform security, integration hygiene, identity controls, anomaly detection, and continuous monitoring.
Best Practices & Mitigation Strategies
Here are steps organizations should take to limit their exposure when using SaaS platforms like Salesforce:
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Restrict OAuth / API Permissions
Grant minimal scopes for third-party apps; revoke tokens when not needed; monitor token issuance and usage. -
Hardening Integrations
Review and audit all connected tools or applications (e.g. Drift, Salesloft). Use secure configurations and validate vendor security. -
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication & Device Trust
Especially for accounts or roles used in integrations or administrative access. -
Employee Training & Vishing Awareness
Continuously train staff to recognize voice phishing, social engineering, and unusual requests. -
Logging, Anomaly Detection & Alerting
Monitor for unusual API calls, token usage, configuration changes, and spikes in data access. -
Periodic Security Audits & Penetration Testing
Include third-party tools and integration layers in testing scope. -
Incident Response Readiness & Communication Strategy
Have a plan for public communication, forensic investigations, and legal/regulatory obligations if data is exposed. -
Zero Trust & Least Privilege Model
Limit lateral movement, segmentation, and ensure access is least necessary and time-bound.
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