Nike is the producer of one of the most popular ranges of athletic shoes on the planet, and its motto of “Just do it” has inspired generations.
It may also have inspired the World Leaks ransomware group, which has “just done it” and listed the company as a victim on its darknet leak site.
World Leaks – thought to be a rebrand of the Hunters International hacking group – listed Nike overnight in a 22 January post.
The hackers have shared little information to back up the claim, sharing neither any evidence of the hack nor a ransom demand, but the leak post has already been viewed more than 400 times and the publication of further data is imminent.
For its part, Nike has said it is aware of the alleged incident.
“We always take consumer privacy and data security very seriously,” a Nike spokesperson told Cyber Daily.
“We are investigating a potential cyber security incident and are actively assessing the situation.”
Who is World Leaks?
World Leaks emerged as a ransomware operator in January 2025 after the hackers behind the group closed down their previous ransomware operation, Hunters International.
That said, whereas Hunters was a classic double extortion operation, both stealing data and encrypting it on victims’ networks, World Leaks’ operations are based entirely on exfiltrating data.
The group has claimed 116 victims since it first formed. Its last Australian victim was NSW-based petroleum distributor Kel Campbell, which was listed by the group in June 2025.
David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.