Vans & The North Face owner admits hackers stole 35 mn customers' data

San Francisco, Jan 19 (IANS) Vans footwear maker VF Corp has admitted it was hit by a cyber attack that led to a breach of personal data of about 35.5 million consumers.

VF Corp, the parent company of the popular apparel brands Vans, Supreme and The North Face, said in a regulatory filing that hackers stole the personal data of 35.5 million customers in a December attack, reports TechCrunch.

The company, however, did not clarify what type of personal data was hacked.

“VF does not collect or retain in its IT systems any consumer social security numbers, bank account information or payment card information as part of its direct-to-consumer practices, and, while the investigation remains ongoing, VF has not detected any evidence to date that any consumer passwords were acquired by the threat actor,” the company informed.

VF Corp said the hackers disrupted its operations “by encrypting some IT systems.”.

The ransomware gang known as ALPHV (or BlackCat) has claimed credit for the data breach.

The company said it “has substantially restored the IT systems and data that were impacted by the cyber incident, but continues to work through minor operational impacts.”

The hacking led to cancellation of some product orders and other disruptions, VF said in a regulatory filing.

“On December 13, 2023, VF detected unauthorised occurrences on a portion of its information technology (IT) systems,” said the company.

The company said it was cooperating with federal law enforcement and the relevant regulatory authorities as required under applicable law.