Qilin Ransomware Strikes Nissan Creative Box

Ransomware Attacks
Qilin Ransomware Strikes Nissan Creative Box

Summary

On August 21, 2025, the notorious ransomware group Qilin declared responsibility for a targeted cyberattack against
Nissan Creative Box (nissan.co.jp), a significant player in Japan’s automotive design sector. The group has threatened to leak sensitive data unless the company engages in negotiations.


Incident Report

Field Details
Target Nissan Creative Box
Domain nissan.co.jp
Country Japan
Attacking Group Qilin
Date Reported August 21, 2025
Threat Actor Statement “The ‘Nissan Creative Box’ refers to a design studio in Tokyo, previously known as a satellite design base for Nissan, and is now part of the larger Nissan design network. It is located in the Harajuku district of Tokyo.”

Nissan Creative Box, a key component of Nissan’s design network in Tokyo, faces a severe cyber threat from Qilin. The ransomware group has targeted the studio, known for its innovative automotive design work, demanding negotiations under the threat of a data leak. This incident highlights the ongoing cybersecurity challenges faced by companies in the automotive sector.

Recommended Security Actions

Ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting both enterprise and mid-sized organizations across all sectors. The following steps are critical to reduce impact and prevent future incidents:

  • Monitor continuously: Use DeXpose’s dark web and infostealer monitoring platform to detect breached credentials, leaked databases, and threat actor chatter in near real-time—before damage spreads internally.
  • Conduct a compromise assessment: Immediately initiate a full incident review to determine how attackers infiltrated your network, what data may have been exfiltrated, and whether any persistence mechanisms remain active.
  • Validate your backups: Ensure that your backups are current, encrypted, and stored offline. Utilize immutable backup solutions to defend against ransomware encryption and deletion attempts.
  • Apply threat intelligence: Integrate external threat feeds, including DeXpose-provided indicators of compromise (IOCs), into your SIEM or XDR platforms for real-time alerting and correlation.
  • Harden employee defenses: Run phishing simulations and enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all access points. Attackers often exploit weak or reused credentials sourced from the dark web.
  • Engage professional response teams: Involve cybersecurity incident response experts, threat analysts, and legal counsel before initiating any dialogue with ransomware groups or ransom brokers.

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Don’t wait for public disclosure or ransom notices—gain visibility into your cyber exposure now.


Disclaimer

DeXpose does not engage in the exfiltration, hosting, redistribution, or purchase of stolen data. All breach information reported here is collected from publicly accessible dark web sources and threat intelligence platforms.
Our mission is to equip organizations with early-warning indicators, contextual threat insights, and actionable intelligence that help them secure their digital assets against evolving cyber threats.

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