Dell acknowledges data breach, but claims stolen data is fake

Hackers have succeeded in breaching Dell’s Customer Solution Centers platform. However, the data used on the platform is primarily synthetic.

The Round Rock-based tech company confirmed the breach to BleepingComputer.

“A threat actor recently gained access to our Solution Center, an environment designed to demonstrate our products and test proofs-of-concept for Dell’s commercial customers. It is intentionally separated from customer and partner systems, as well as Dell’s networks, and is not used in the provision of services to Dell customers,” Dell told the news outlet.

The company continues by saying that the data used on Dell’s Customer Solution Centers platform is “primarily synthetic (fake) data” that’s publicly available for demonstration and testing purposes.

Dell wouldn’t share any details about how the company was breached, or if it had received a ransom demand, because the data breach is still under investigation.

A ransomware operation called World Leaks, which is a rebrand of Hunters International, a hacking group that shut down all of its operations earlier this month, has claimed responsibility for the incident.

According to BleepingComputer, members of the group published samples of the stolen data online. They’re claiming to have exfiltrated 1.3TB of data.

“Some of this data does appear to contain passwords used internally when provisioning equipment, but there does not appear to be any sensitive corporate or customer data in the leaked files,” the tech news outlet writes.

As of writing, Dell hasn’t responded to the latest allegations.

Hunters International emerged in late 2023 from the ashes of Hive, one of the world’s most dangerous ransomware groups at the time, responsible for over 1,500 victims globally and earning approximately €100 million in ransom demands.

Over the last two years, Hunters International has claimed to be responsible for almost 300 ransomware attacks worldwide, targeting companies of all sizes, with ransom demands ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

In April 2025, the group’s leadership said ransomware had become “unpromising, low-converting, and extremely risky,” adding that it was considering rebranding to focus on data exfiltration and extortion-only attacks rather than data encryption. This operation is now known as World Leaks.