Nokia data has allegedly been compromised after a third party vendor was cyber attacked.
A notorious hacker known as ‘Intel Broker’ posted to the dark web page BreachForums claiming the stolen data contained a ‘large collection of Nokia source code” confirming it has been accessed in a hack on a third-party contractor which “directly worked with Nokia to help aid their development of some internal tools."
Read: What Happened To Nokia? How the Brick Phone Died
Inter Broker claimed that the data for sale contained ‘SSH keys, source code, RSA keys, BitBucket logins, SMTP accounts, webhooks, and hardcoded credentials.’
But what does that mean?
Source code is critical software components essential to Nokia's operations. SSH keys are the digital keys used to securely access systems. RSA keys are used for encryption and digital signatures. BitBucket is a popular code repository whilst SMTP accounts are used for email communication. Finally, webhooks are automated web callbacks used for data exchange.
Nokia denies customer data compromised
With all this data, it’s no wonder that Intel Broker attempted to charge $20,000 for access. However, as Nokia denied the breach, Intel Broker leaked the data for free in response.
The threat actor claimed to have been able to access SonarQube server using default credentials, allowing them to download customers' Python projects.
SonarQube, the third party vendor that was allegedly compromised, is an open-source platform that helps developers improve the quality of their code.
The threat actor also claimed responsibility for the Cisco data breach in October as well as the Pandabuy data breach in April.
“We have found no evidence that this 3rd party incident would in any way endanger critical Nokia systems or data, including source code, customized software, or encryption keys. Our customers are in no way impacted, including their data and networks,” Nokia responded to questions about the legitimacy of the breach.
The Nokia data breach highlights the importance of robust cybersecurity measures across all levels of an organization, including third-party vendors and contractors.
Organizations must ensure that their vendors and contractors have adequate security measures in place to protect sensitive data. By taking a comprehensive approach to security, organizations can reduce their risk of experiencing a similar breach.
