BreachPublished 15 Jun 2026

Council of Europe investigates ShinyHunters data breach claims

Source Bleeping Computer

Description

The Council of Europe, the continent's oldest intergovernmental body, is probing claims of a data breach made by the ShinyHunters extortion group over the weekend. [...]

Impact

If confirmed, the breach could expose sensitive personal and financial information of thousands of Council of Europe employees and personnel, potentially leading to identity theft, financial fraud, and privacy violations. The exposure of such extensive HR and payroll data could also damage the organization's reputation and trust. No confirmed exploitation or data leak has been reported yet.

Defensive guidance

The organization is actively investigating the claims. No public mitigation or remediation steps have been provided at this time.

Summary

The ShinyHunters extortion group claims to have exfiltrated more than 429,000 documents from multiple departments of the Council of Europe, including over 409,000 payslips, 3,700 personnel files, and 14,000 CVs. The data reportedly contains extensive personal and financial information such as names, dates of birth, addresses, employee IDs, salaries, bank account details, tax and social security information, and medical records. The Council of Europe is investigating these claims but has not confirmed the breach or disclosed remediation steps. ShinyHunters is known for previous large-scale data thefts and extortion campaigns targeting various organizations worldwide.

References

bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/council-of-europe-investigates-shinyhunters-data-breach-claims/ (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Jun 2026, 16:45 UTC

References

Community reviews