PwC confirms cybersecurity incident involving employee learning records after Everest group claims 590GB theft

PwC said on Friday it was aware of a cybersecurity incident involving a third-party vendor used to host company employee learning records, a day after the cyber extortion group Everest claimed to have stolen 590 gigabytes of company data, Reuters reported.

A PwC global spokesperson said “the affected site does not house client data, sensitive personal data or financial information. Once we learned of this incident we acted promptly to secure the environment and conduct a thorough review.”

The incident “does not impact our network or any of our operations,” the spokesperson added.

Everest claimed responsibility for the breach in a message posted to its website on October 22, according to cybercrime research platform eCrime.ch. The message included a countdown timer with five days remaining and said the data would be released if a deal could not be reached.

The group claimed the stolen data included “regional HR and learning exports, integration documentation, software components and PwC e-learning courses.” It said the data contained names, email addresses, telephone numbers, addresses and individuals’ “organisational and employment history”.

The PwC spokesperson declined to comment on the amount of data stolen or the veracity of Everest’s claims, Reuters said. Channel News Asia carried the same report.