Exclusive-Hackers targeted US private equity, other firms including Blackstone, CME, data shows FILE ed in Manhattan, New York City · Raphael Satter, AJ Vicens and Anirban Sen Thu, August 6, 2026 at 7:02 PM GMT+2 5 min read GOOG CME APO By Raphael Satter, AJ Vicens and Anirban Sen WASHINGTON, Aug 6 ( ) - Ransom-seeking hackers who use phone calls to compromise their victims targeted dozens of prominent U.S. financial institutions and other businesses over the past month, according to Google and internet intelligence data reviewed by . More from Yahoo Scout What motivates hackers to target private equity firms? What hacking tactics were used against financial institutions?
How did hackers use social engineering phone calls? Which major financial firms were targeted by hackers? The data shows the hackers devised websites aimed at stealing passwords from employees of private equity firms and financial companies including Blackstone, Bridgewater Associates, Apollo Global Management, Bain Capital, KKR, TPG, CME Group, Clearlake Capital and Moody's, as well as other businesses.
Internet company Google said in a blog post about the hacking campaign published on Thursday that the hackers operate under a range of names, including Redact, Pink, Falcon and Helix. Google declined to comment on findings. Its blog said in some cases companies, which it did not name, paid ransoms to the hackers. could not establish which companies the hackers successfully compromised.
Experts say the hackers' use of low-tech tactics such as phone calls to target the financial industry illustrates how, despite sophisticated security programs and AI-driven threats, the oldest tactics still rank among the most effective. If successful, the hacks could compromise data of some of the biggest U.S. private equity firms that provide capital to companies. "Because the fence is now so fancy and high-tech, we just have to trick the guard into opening the door for us," said Lee Clark, a cyberthreat intelligence production manager with the Retail and Hospitality ISAC, an industry information sharing and analysis group.
"That human element consistently is why this has exploded in the way it has," he said. KKR, Bain Capital, Clearlake Capital, CME, TPG and Apollo declined to comment. Blackstone, Bridgewater Associates and Moody's did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
HACKERS SHIFT ATTENTION: GOOGLE In its blog post, Google — a unit of Alphabet — said the hackers had recently turned their attention to private equity, law firms and financial ratings agencies. Austin Larsen, the principal threat analyst at Google's Threat Intelligence Group, said the hackers generally targeted industries based on financial calculations, often successfully. "Really, it's a money thing," Larsen said.
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