Swiss food giant Nestlé has denied claims that hacktivists Anonymous have published sensitive information they stole from the company as retaliation for continuing business operations in Russia.
This comes hot on the heels of Anonymous threatening a list of organisations that are still operating in Russia, to pull out by 23 March, or face dire consequences.
In its Twitter feed, the hacking collective said it has released 10GB of Nestlé’s data, including e-mails, passwords and customer information, as punishment for not heeding its warning.
Nestlé told The Register the data leaked is neither real nor sensitive, and it wasn't stolen, but was accidentally leaked by Nestlé through one of its own websites.
"This claim of a cyber attack against Nestlé and subsequent data leak has no foundation," said a company spokesperson.
Nestlé claims the leak stems from a case in February, when some randomised and mostly publicly available test data was accidentally made accessible online for a brief period of time on a single business test website.
“We quickly investigated and no further action was deemed necessary. Cyber security is one of our top priorities. We continuously monitor the IT landscape and take all actions needed to ensure we stay cyber security-resilient,” Nestlé said.
However, Nestlé announced yesterday it is suspending several of its top brands in Russia, including KitKat and Nesquik, among others.
“We have already halted non-essential imports and exports into and out of Russia, stopped all advertising and suspended all capital investment in the country. Of course, we are fully complying with all international sanctions on Russia,” the company said.
As the invasion of Ukraine continues, Nestlé said its activities in Russia will focus on providing essential food, including baby food and medical and hospital nutrition.
The company added its efforts in the region will not focus on making money. “While we do not expect to make a profit in the country or pay any related taxes for the foreseeable future in Russia, any profit will be donated to humanitarian relief organisations.”
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