Al Hayat | Pepsi Listed by Global Secret Group Ransomware Group: What Was Exposed & What To Do

People connected to Al Hayat — employees, partners, suppliers, or others whose details sit in company systems — face a practical problem: a ransomware group has publicly listed the organisation and claimed to have taken a large volume of internal files. When internal material leaves an organisation this way, the immediate questions are what was taken, who might be identifiable in it, and what steps make sense while the full picture remains incomplete.

Public reporting places the listing on 26 July 2026. The number of people affected is unknown. What has been stated is that internal files were exfiltrated in a ransomware attack, with the group associating a substantial data set with the victim. Exact contents and confirmation beyond the listing itself are limited.

Inside the incident

According to the available record, Al Hayat was listed by the ransomware group known as Global Secret Group. The listing is associated with Iraq, the website alhayatco.com, and the food and beverage sector. Reported organisational details include approximate revenue of $100 million and a workforce in the 501–1,000 range.

The group’s claim centres on exfiltration of internal files. The volume cited in connection with the listing is 138 GB, described as 205,992 files across 17,178 folders. Method of initial access, encryption status, ransom demands, and any negotiation or recovery timeline are not disclosed in the public summary. Whether the organisation has independently confirmed the intrusion or the data loss is also unconfirmed. The people-affected count remains unknown.

In short, the incident is known primarily through the group’s leak-site style listing and the associated property figures. Independent verification of what was copied, when the intrusion began, and how systems were compromised has not been provided in the facts at hand.

Who is Global Secret Group?

Global Secret Group operates in the ransomware ecosystem: groups of this type typically break into networks, steal data, and threaten to publish or sell it unless a payment is made. Public reporting on such actors commonly describes double-extortion patterns — encryption of systems combined with exfiltration — and the use of dedicated leak sites or forums to pressure victims by naming them and advertising stolen volumes.

For this incident, the only specific assertion tied to Al Hayat is the group’s own listing and the claimed data properties. No further statements from the group about this victim — such as sample files, named databases, or detailed timelines — are included in the facts. The listing should therefore be treated as an unverified claim unless and until the organisation or independent investigators confirm it. Typical tactics of ransomware crews (phishing, exploitation of remote access, lateral movement, and bulk file theft) are well documented across the industry; applying those patterns here as proven facts about this breach would go beyond what has been reported.

Al Hayat and its sector

Al Hayat is described as a food and beverage organisation based in Iraq, with a public web presence at alhayatco.com. Companies in this sector often manage production, distribution, wholesale and retail relationships, and brand partnerships. The headline association with Pepsi in the breach record is consistent with bottling, distribution, or related commercial activity common in the industry, though the precise corporate structure is not detailed in the facts.

Organisations of this size and type routinely hold operational records, supplier and customer contracts, logistics data, finance and payroll material, and internal correspondence. A workforce of several hundred to a thousand people implies HR systems, access credentials, and day-to-day business documents. In food and beverage, quality, safety, and supply-chain information can also be sensitive. A breach that involves internal files therefore matters not only for corporate continuity but for anyone whose personal or commercial details appear in those systems — staff, contractors, local partners, and counterparties.

What was likely exposed

The facts name the exposed material as internal files exfiltrated in a ransomware attack, with a claimed volume of 138 GB comprising roughly 206,000 files in about 17,000 folders. No itemised inventory — such as customer databases, passport scans, payment card data, or specific HR exports — is provided. Exact contents are therefore unconfirmed.

Organisations in food and beverage of this scale typically store employee records, vendor and distributor information, invoices and financial files, operational plans, email archives, and credentials or configuration data used to run plants and logistics. Any of those categories could be present in a broad internal-file haul; none of them should be stated as confirmed for this incident. Until Al Hayat or a trusted investigator publishes a clearer breakdown, affected individuals should assume that ordinary business and workforce data might be involved without treating any single data type as proven.

What's at stake

For individuals, the main risks are misuse of personal or contact details if they appear in the stolen files, targeted phishing that references real internal context, and, in some cases, fraud attempts that exploit knowledge of employment, contracts, or supply relationships. Because the people-affected figure is unknown, it is not possible to say how widely those risks extend.

For the organisation, stakes include operational disruption if systems were encrypted, competitive or contractual harm if commercial documents surface, regulatory and contractual notification duties depending on applicable law, and longer-term trust issues with employees and partners. Ransomware incidents also often lead to secondary scams in which criminals impersonate the company or IT staff. None of this requires assuming negligence; it follows from the nature of internal-file theft and public listing alone.

What to do if you're exposed

If you work with or for Al Hayat, or believe your details may sit in its systems, treat unsolicited messages that reference the company or this incident with caution. Prefer official channels you already trust. Monitor financial and email accounts for unusual activity, and enable multi-factor authentication where you can. If you are an employee or contractor, ask the organisation’s official security or HR contact what they can confirm and what support they offer. Keep records of any suspicious contact.

You can also run a free exposure scan of your email address to check whether your information has already appeared in known breach data sets. That will not prove whether you were in this specific incident, but it can show whether your address is circulating more widely and help you prioritise password changes and monitoring.

AICompiled with AI assistance from public sources and published under our editorial standards.