Hacker's attack on Shimano could lead to a leak of crucial information, including bike designs

The ransomware attack on Shimano could lead to its future designs being leaked to competitors, a cyber security expert has said. Last week it was reported by Escape Collective among others that the Japanese bike parts and fishing kit manufacturer was targeted by ransomware group LockBit, who were threatening to release 4.5 terabytes of sensitive data.

The full ransom notice was listed on Ransomlook.io, which is as an open-source project hoping to assist those tracking ransomware-related posts and activities across various sites and forums.

The hacking notice claims that the group has breached highly sensitive data, including: employee information, financial documents, client data and  other documents including NDA documents among others.

"The company is in a bit of a conundrum," Dr Lallie, cybersecurity expert, told Cyclingweekly. "Sure, they might have backups. So they might think, well, it doesn't matter that you've got our designs, it's not like we won't be able to continue to function, we'll carry on functioning, but this isn't a good place for Shimano to be at."