Antivirus Makers Confirm—and Deny—Getting Breached by Hackers Looking to Sell Stolen Data [Updated]

Symantec and Trend Micro are among the list of leading antivirus company that a radical of Russian - speak hacker aver to have compromised , Gizmodo has learned . It persist unclear to what level the title is true , if any .

Last week , Advanced Intelligence ( AdvIntel ) , a New York - based threat - enquiry firm , reported that a hacking chemical group wasattempting to sell national embodied documents and author codepurportedly stolen from three major antivirus troupe . abduce an ongoing law enforcement investigation and its own disclosure policy , AdvIntel did not reveal the names of the say victim .

The hacker , make love as “ Fxmsp , ” are said to be offering to sell the slip data — around 30 TiB ’ Charles Frederick Worth — for over $ 300,000 . Gizmodo has not itself reviewed or verified any of allegedly stolen documents .

Boxes of McAfee security software are displayed alongside Norton Anti-virus software by Symantec on a shelf at a Target store August 19, 2010 in Colma, California.

Boxes of McAfee security software are displayed alongside Norton Anti-virus software by Symantec on a shelf at a Target store 19 May 2025 in Colma, California.Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty

Symantec , maker of Norton Antivirus software program , confirm that it was contacted last hebdomad with researcher at AdvIntel , who discovered that Symantec was among the inclination of alleged victim . Symantec order Gizmodo it is aware of the claim , but does not believe there ’s grounds for its customers to be concerned . “ There is no meter reading that Symantec has been bear upon by this incident , ” the company said .

AdvIntel told Gizmodo it shared trust in Symantec ’s ego - judgement . “ Even though Fxmsp take that the company is in this dupe listing , they have not provided sufficient evidence to support this allegement , ” it say .

Previously , AdvIntel said it believed Fxmsp was a “ believable terror ” and enounce the group had rake in nigh to $ 1 million already by selling off data steal in “ verifiable corporate breaches . ”

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

Symantec initially deny having been contacted by AdvIntel when first reached by Gizmodo earlier on Monday . Yelisey Boguslavskiy , AdvIntel ’s director of research , said he ’d first reached out to Symantec on May 8 through a partner and then accommodate two remedy call with the company on May 9 and May 10 .

security measures computer software firm Trend Micro , meanwhile , tell Gizmodo that data linked to one of its testing labs had been get at without authorisation . It labeled the incident as “ small risk , ” however , and say that neither customer information nor any of its beginning code had been improperly accessed or exfiltrated .

Boguslavskiy took issue with Trend Micro ’s statement , saying it was “ wrong based on the portion of the data we have and the doer ’s statement . ”

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Trend Micro enjoin its probe into the matter was still underway and that it was wreak closely with legal philosophy enforcement , but that it wanted to “ transparently apportion what we have pick up . ” The companionship said it allow update as the investigating moved ahead .

A interpreter for McAfee , the maker of McAfee VirusScan , would not straight off confirm whether the company had been reach about a potential falling out . The company is currently looking into the matter , the spokesperson said , adding : “ We ’ve take necessary steps to monitor for and investigate it . ”

Screenshots offer up as substantiation by Fxmsp come along to show stolen development corroboration , an hokey intelligence service model , and antivirus package base codification , according to AdvIntel . Its researchers pronounce it have intercourse the group to run in both Russian- and English - speak circles online .

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