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Apollo discloses data breach from ongoing wave of attacks hitting financial sector. The private equity firm said attackers broke into some of its cloud platforms during a five-day period in early July, compromising sensitive personal data. August 21, 2026 Apollo Global Management confirmed it was among several financial institutions impacted by a string of social engineering attacks that hit the sector last month, the company said Friday. Attackers gained unauthorized access to some of the private equity firm's cloud platforms between July 6 and July 10, the company said in a data breach notification filed in California. Apollo did not say when or how it became aware of the intrusion and did not respond to a request for comment. Apollo is the first victim to formally disclose that sensitive personal data under its care was compromised by a wave of attacks that have hit large private equity firms, law firms, financial rating agencies and medical technology companies. The company did not name the group responsible for the attack. Yet, Google earlier this month attributed the ongoing campaign to BlackFile, a threat group affiliated with The Com, that recently split its extortion operations across four brands with shared infrastructure: Redact, Pink, Helix and Falcon. "Upon detecting the incident, we promptly notified law enforcement, engaged leading outside cybersecurity and forensic experts, enhanced our security protocols, and launched an investigation," Matthew Breitfelder, global head of human capital at Apollo, wrote in the disclosure notice. As part of its ongoing investigation, Apollo said it determined on Aug. 12 that personal data including names, dates of birth, contact information, home addresses and Social Security numbers were compromised. The company did not say how many people were impacted, but noted it's thus far found no evidence any data was posted online or used for identity theft or fraud. Apollo is one of the world's largest private equity firms, with $1.05 trillion in assets under its management at the end of June, according to a regulatory filing. Researchers previously told CyberScoop some of Apollo's largest competitors, including Blackstone and Bain Capital, were also targeted with malicious infrastructure, but it's unclear if those firms were compromised. BlackFile and its various affiliates have impacted organizations in multiple industries, including healthcare, technology, transportation, logistics, wholesale, and retail and hospitality since the beginning of this year. The extortion group shifts from one sector to the next, impersonating IT support in voice-phishing and social-engineering attacks before threatening its alleged victims with extortion demands, which often start around $3 million and are typically negotiated down to less than $1 million. Google researchers also previously said some of the group's recent victims have been subject to threatening messages and other forms of escalation, including swatting incidents, a tactic adopted by several subsets of The Com.

Private equity firm Apollo confirms data breach amid hacking wave targeting financial giants. The private equity giant confirms a breach, weeks after Google researchers said hackers were targeting financial companies. Private equity giant Apollo Global Management has confirmed a data breach in which hackers stole reams of personal information from the company's cloud systems. The breach comes a month after security researchers sounded the alarm on a new hacking campaign targeting financial and private equity giants. The financial giant confirmed the incident in a letter filed with California's attorney general. Apollo's human resources chief Matthew Breitfelder said that hackers used a social engineering attack to gain access to the company's cloud environment between July 6 and July 10. The hackers took names, birth dates, contact information (including home addresses), and Social Security numbers. The letter does not specifically say who had their personal information stolen, such as Apollo employees or individuals at companies it owns. Apollo is one of the world's largest private equity firms with $938 billion in assets under its management. When reached by TechCrunch, Apollo spokesperson Giovanna Falbo did not immediately provide comment or answer questions about the incident, including whether the company paid the hackers a ransom. Apollo has around 5,000 employees as of February 2026, according to the company's public regulatory filings. The now-confirmed hack comes weeks after security researchers at Google warned that hackers were targeting private equity companies and financial giants as part of a widespread extortion campaign. Reuters reported that Apollo was one of the companies that hackers targeted, alongside Blackstone, Bridgewater, Bain Capital, and others, but that it was unclear if any of the companies had been successfully breached. Google says the hackers, who go by various names - Falcon, Helix, Pink, and Redact - rely largely on social engineering attacks that involve calling employees and pretending to be IT helpdesks or support. The goal is to trick the employees into entering their passwords and multi-factor authentication codes in spoofed login portals, which allow the hackers to gain access to corporate networks. After stealing data, the hackers then extort the companies into paying a ransom or threaten to publish the data on their leak site. Some of the attacks netted the hackers ransoms as much as $750,000, according to Google. Until 2025, TechCrunch was a subsidiary of Yahoo, an advertising tech company owned by Apollo.