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Researchers firm up ShinyHunters, Scattered Spider link

ReliaQuest researchers present new evidence that firms up a potential link, or outright partnership, between the ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider cyber gangs.

Alex Scroxton
By
Published: 12 Aug 2025 17:28

The ShinyHunters hacking collective responsible for a wave of cyber attacks orchestrated via Salesforce products is likely collaborating with the Scattered Spider gang that brought down systems at Marks & Spencer earlier this year, according to new research.

In a report published today, ReliaQuest researchers Kimberley Bromley and Ivan Righi argue that there is now plenty of evidence – albeit some of it highly circumstantial – suggesting a deliberate partnership between the two operations, both of which have previously been linked to the wider cyber crime network known as The Com.

They described a dramatic shift in ShinyHunters’ tactics that move the group well beyond its previous modus operandi, which centred largely on credential theft and database exploitation, to include “hallmark” Scattered Spider techniques.

These include the adoption of highly-targeted voice phishing, or vishing, campaigns that impersonate IT support staff to get victims to connect malicious apps – Salesforce Data Loader in the current campaign – that enable them to steal data, the use of Okta-themed phishing pages to trick their victims into entering their credentials, and the use of the legitimate Mullvad virtual private network (VPN) service to perform data exfiltration.

“These tactics align closely with Scattered Spider’s trademark methods and those of the broader collective, The Com, fueling speculation about active collaboration between the groups,” wrote Bromley and Righi.

Evidence adds up

The ReliaQuest team offered up more evidence of a link, saying that the two groups also appear to be targeting similar verticals – retail, insurance, and aviation – during the same rough timeline, and they seem to be taking a similar approach in the naming conventions they used when registering their domains. Bromley and Righi warned that based on their analysis of domains registered that match the naming pattern convention favoured by ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider, it is likely that financial services companies should now be on high alert.

More evidence has recently emerged of the existence of an individual persona associated with ShinyHunters, known as Sp1d3rhunters. This account, which first popped up on the BreachForums data leak service in 2024, when it was linked to ShinyHunters’ breach of Ticketmaster, has allegedly claimed that ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider are the same, and moreover always have been.

“If these connections are legitimate, they suggest that collaboration or overlap between ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider may have been ongoing for more than a year,” said the researchers.

Broader significance

Conceding that it would be possible to spend months dissecting the clues that suggest ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider are working together, Bromley and Righi said it was important for defenders not to lose sight of the broader significance of the ongoing attacks – that they are successful not because of who orchestrated them, but because of how they were executed.

“Threat actors constantly rotate infrastructure, change names, and adapt their TTPs to evade detection and maximise impact,” they said.

“As a result, tracking the behavioral patterns and evolving TTPs behind these campaigns is far more valuable than focusing solely on indicators of compromise (IOCs) or attribution.

“For security leaders, understanding this fluid and persistent threat landscape is critical to anticipating future attacks and making informed decisions about security strategy and resource allocation.”

They warned that the cyber attack campaigns were likely to continue regardless of whether the two groups are working together, or are one and the same, adding that others may also attempt to emulate the success of the high-profile attacks by adopting similar tactics.

“These recent campaigns showcase the effectiveness of a new wave of English-speaking threat actors highly skilled in social engineering,” they said.

Timeline: Scattered Spider and ShinyHunters activity in 2025

  • 22 April 2025: A cyber attack at M&S has caused significant disruption to customers, leaving them unable to make contactless payments or use click-and-collect services.
  • 24 April: M&S is still unable to provide contactless payment or click-and-collect services amid a cyber attack that it says has forced it to move a number of processes offline to safeguard its customers, staff and business.
  • 25 April: M&S shuts down online sales as it works to contain and mitigate a severe cyber attack on its systems.
  • 29 April: An infamous hacking collective may have been behind the ongoing cyber attack on M&S that has crippled systems at the retailer and left its ecommerce operation in disarray.
  • 30 April: A developing cyber incident at Co-op has forced the retailer to pull the plug on some of its IT systems as it works to contain the attack.
  • 1 May: Co-op tells staff to stop using their VPNs and be wary that their communications channels may be being monitored, as a cyber attack on the organisation continues to develop.
  • 1 May: Harrods confirms it is the latest UK retailer to experience a cyber attack, shutting off a number of systems in an attempt to lessen the impact.
  • 2 May: The National Cyber Security Centre confirms it is providing assistance to M&S, Co-op and Harrods as concerns grow among UK retailers.
  • 7 May: No end is yet in sight for UK retailers subjected to apparent ransomware attacks.
  • 13 May: M&S is instructing all of its customers to change their account passwords after a significant amount of data was stolen in a DragonForce ransomware attack.
  • 14 May: Google’s threat intel analysts are aware of a number of in-progress cyber attacks against US retailers linked to the same gang that supposedly attacked M&S and Co-op in the UK.
  • 20 May: Cold chain services provider Peter Green Chilled, which supplies the likes of Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, has been forced to halt operations after succumbing to a ransomware attack.
  • 4 June: A threat group is using voice phishing to trick targeted organisations into sharing sensitive credentials, according to Google. (Cybersecurity Dive)
  • 11 June: So-called Black Swan events expose the blind spots in even the most sophisticated forecasting models, signaling a need to rethink how businesses, and those investing in them, quantify and prepare for cyber risk.
  • 13 June: The recent spate of cyber attacks on UK retailers has to be a wake-up call to build more cyber resilience into digital supply chains and fortify against social engineering attacks.
  • 17 June: Following a series of high-profile attacks on prominent retailers and consumer brands, a group of criminal hackers appears to be expanding their targeting to the insurance sector.
  • 20 June: The UK’s Cyber Monitoring Centre has published its first in-depth assessment of a major incident, reflecting on the impact of and lessons learned from cyber attacks on M&S and Co-op.
  • 26 June: US authorities have unsealed charges against 25-year-old hacker Kai West, aka IntelBroker, accusing him of being behind multiple cyber attacks.
  • 27 June: Multiple reports are emerging of cyber attacks on airlines – Google Cloud’s Mandiant believes them to be linked.
  • 2 July: Australian flag carrier Qantas is investigating significant data theft of personal information for up to 6 million customers after a third-party platform used by its call centre was compromised.
  • 2 July: A developing cyber attack at Australian airline Qantas that started at a third-party call centre is already being tentatively attributed to the same gang that hit UK retailers. Find out more and learn about the next steps for those affected.
  • 8 July: The government should extend ransomware reporting mandates to businesses to help gather more intelligence and better support victims, says M&S chairman Archie Norman.
  • 9 July: Australian flag carrier begins notifying millions of individuals after a cyber attack on a call centre, confirming that while financial and passport details are safe, a significant volume of other personal information was compromised.
  • 10 July: Police have made four arrests in connection with a trio of cyber attacks on UK retailers Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods.
  • 14 July: French luxury goods retailer LVMH has disclosed multiple cyber attacks in 2025 so far, and their impact is now spreading to the UK as a new incident affecting Louis Vuitton comes to light.
  • 16 July: Microsoft warns users over notable evolutions in Scattered Spider's attack playbook, and beefs up some of the defensive capabilities it offers to customers in response.
  • 16 July: Co-op chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq has revealed that all the personal data of all 6.5 million of its members was compromised in the April 2025 cyber attack on its systems.
  • 24 July: Cleaning products manufacturer Clorox fell victim to a Scattered Spider social engineering attack two years ago – it blames its IT helpdesk provider, Cognizant.
  • 30 July: CISA, the FBI, NCSC and others have clubbed together to update previous guidance on Scattered Spider's playbook, warning of new social engineering tactics and exploitation of legitimate tools, among other things.
  • 7 August: Air France - KLM alerts authorities of a data breach in which threat actors were able to get away with names, email addresses, phone numbers, and more. (Dark Reading)
  • 7 August: ShinyHunters is back, with low-tech hacks that nonetheless manage to bring down international megaliths like Google, Cisco, and Adidas. (Dark Reading)
  • 11 August: Computer Weekly gets under the skin of an ongoing wave of ShinyHunters cyber attacks orchestrated via social engineering against Salesforce users.

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