French luxury holding Kering, which owns Gucci, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and other brands, has confirmed a large-scale data breach. The Shiny Hunters group claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming to have stolen data from 7.4 million customers.
According to an official statement to the BBC, in June 2025, third-party attackers temporarily gained access to the company’s IT systems and stole a limited amount of customer data. The leak included names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mails and information on the total amount of purchases in boutiques around the world.
Shiny Hunters said that Balenciaga allegedly agreed to pay a $750,000 ransom, but did not fulfill the terms. After that, the hackers provided data samples and negotiations with the company to the DataBreaches blog. The stolen files include customers who spent between $10,000 and $86,000.
Kering says no financial information or identity documents were compromised. The company’s systems are now secure, the incident has been reported to regulators, and affected customers have been notified by email.
Kering Group owns more than a dozen premium brands, from Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta to Brioni and Pomellato. Its annual revenue in 2024 was €17.2 billion.
The Shiny Hunters group (UN3944) is known for numerous hacks: it was previously linked to the attack on Salesforce and Salesloft Drift. Analysts suggest that the hackers may have collaborated with Scattered Spider (UNC6040), a group specializing in social engineering and extortion.
The Kering incident confirms that even the leaders of the luxury segment remain vulnerable to data leaks. Although the company assures that customers’ financial information was not affected, the publication of personal contacts and purchase data can pose risks to their privacy. The Shiny Hunters attack shows that blackmail and data trading have become part of the cybercriminals’ business model.
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