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The cyber extortion group FulcrumSec, active since October 2025, claims it maintained long-term access to systems at Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk and exfiltrated more than one terabyte of sensitive data. The company did not pay the demanded ransom of $25 million.
According to a Reuters report, Novo Nordisk may have suffered a significant data breach. FulcrumSec alleges it gained access to internal systems as early as March this year and copied more than 1.3 terabytes of data, equivalent to over 700,000 files, according to the group.
Scope of the Alleged Data Theft
The scale of the purported breach is substantial. FulcrumSec claims the stolen data includes source code, information on approved and yet-to-be-released drugs, clinical trial datasets, and internal AI models. The dataset also allegedly contains employee records, as well as information relating to physicians, patients, and the company’s manufacturing infrastructure. The authenticity of the data has not been independently verified.
Novo Nordisk Confirms Incident
Novo Nordisk acknowledged on June 11 that unauthorized actors had accessed a limited number of internal IT systems, including systems containing personal data. Responding to the claims made by FulcrumSec, a company spokesperson said the incident is being taken seriously. Core platforms remain operational, and relevant authorities have been notified.
$25 Million Ransom Demand Rejected
According to FulcrumSec, Novo Nordisk made initial contact with the group on June 3 after the attackers reached out to company email addresses. Novo Nordisk reportedly demonstrated its legitimacy as a negotiating party by requesting specific files. However, no agreement was reached. The $25 million ransom demand was not paid. Notably, another defense sector company recently paid a comparable extortion demand in a separate case.
Since the failed negotiations, FulcrumSec says it has considered selling parts of the stolen dataset, including drug-related research information. However, the group claims it generally prefers public release, arguing that disclosure has a stronger deterrent effect on other organizations.
Partial Data Withheld
The group also states it is withholding certain datasets, including records belonging to thousands of employees and physicians, pseudonymized data from approximately 11,500 clinical trial participants, and technical control data for manufacturing systems and sensor infrastructure. FulcrumSec describes this decision as a form of “harm mitigation.”
Novo Nordisk is best known globally for its diabetes and obesity treatments, including Ozempic and Wegovy.
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