Recent cyberattacks on El Corte Inglés and Santillana: What happened and how to protect your company

In recent weeks, two large Spanish companies —El Corte Inglés and Grupo Santillana— have experienced incidents related to cybersecurity. These concrete examples remind us that cybersecurity is a pressing need for any entity.

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El Corte Inglés: data leak and sabotage of the PA system

At the beginning of March 2025, El Corte Inglés informed certain customers that their personal data had been breached due to unauthorized access through one of its technology providers. The information presented included names, addresses and numbers of purchase cards, although the company guaranteed that payments could not be made with these.

A few weeks later, another event attracted attention: the public address system of several centers was intervened, sending incorrect messages. El Corte Inglés attributed it to a technical error, despite the fact that the incident demonstrated the fragility of internal control and communication systems.

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Grupo Santillana: ransomware attack and theft of 38 GB of data

Santillana, a publishing group, was the target of a ransomware attack attributed to the cybercriminal group HellCat. The intruders claim to have stolen 38 GB of information, including emails and sensitive documents. Although the amount required for the ransom has not been disclosed, the event forced the company to implement immediate actions and strengthen its digital security.

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What can we learn from these cases?

These attacks demonstrate that no organization is exempt from risk. Both the retail and education sectors are frequent targets because of the volume of data they manage.

Key lessons for companies:

• Audit digital security on a regular basis
• Have 24/7 active monitoring systems
• Train staff to prevent human errors
• Require cybersecurity measures from technology providers

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Is your company ready?

In Apollo Cybersecurity we help protect organizations of all sizes from threats like these, with services designed to anticipate risks and respond quickly and effectively:

• 🔐 SOC as a Service: 24/7 monitoring and response
• 🛡️ Pentesting and Vulnerability Analysis
• 🎓 Cybersecurity training for employees
• 📋 CISO as a Service: tailor-made security strategy

👉 Request a free audit today and discover how to protect your business:
www.apolocybersecurity.com/solutions

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