‍Last updated: September 25, 2025

Drift Data Breach: Salesforce Customer Data Exposed - Why Many Teams Are Switching to Worknet

TL;DR (Key Takeaways)

• What happened: Attackers abused OAuth tokens connected to Drift’s Salesforce integration and queried sensitive CRM objects.
• Who’s affected: Organizations that connected Drift to Salesforce; exposure included support cases, accounts, opportunities, and user data.
• Why it matters: Support cases often contain credentials, API keys, and tokens; exposure creates downstream risk beyond contact data.
• Response: Connections were revoked; customers asked to re-authenticate and rotate keys/tokens.
• Next step: Many companies now prioritize least-privilege, short-lived tokens, and detailed auditability—and are evaluating Worknet as a safer alternative.

What Is Drift?

Drift is a conversational marketing platform (founded 2015) used for website chat, AI assistants, and meeting booking—most notably with tight CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo). In 2024, Drift became part of Salesloft. Strong CRM connectivity has been a core value proposition—and the vector of the 2025 incident.

Incident Overview: What Happened

Timeframe: Mid-August 2025
Vector: Compromised OAuth tokens tied to Drift’s Salesforce integration
Action: Automated queries against Salesforce objects (e.g., Cases, Accounts, Opportunities, Users)
Goal: Credential harvesting—mining case text and fields for secrets (API keys, access tokens, passwords)
Scope: Impacted orgs were those with Drift ↔ Salesforce connected

This was a supply-chain style breach through a trusted third-party integration—not a brute-force attack on a single company.

What Data Was at Risk

• Support tickets/case text (often contains API keys, tokens, credentials)
• Account and opportunity records (customer and pipeline details)
• User/contact metadata (names, roles, emails)

Because support cases can contain operational secrets, the incident introduced risk beyond typical PII exposure.

Impact on Drift Customers

• Unauthorized access to Salesforce objects
• Emergency response: revoke tokens, rotate credentials, increase monitoring, notify customers
• Reputational and operational cost: time spent auditing, rotating, and reassuring stakeholders

How Drift Responded

• Revoked all Drift–Salesforce connections
• Temporarily removed the app listing from Salesforce’s marketplace
• Required re-authentication for Salesforce integrations
• Advised rotation of API keys/tokens used with Drift

These steps helped contain ongoing exfiltration—customers still needed to complete full remediation (token rotation, log reviews, downstream key resets).

What Companies Should Do Now (Quick Checklist)

1. Inventory every integration that touches Salesforce (Drift and beyond).
2. Revoke/rotate OAuth tokens, API keys, and any credentials shared in tickets.
3. Search case history for exposed secrets (terms like “key=”, “token”, “secret”, “password”).
4. Tighten scopes: enforce least-privilege for every integration.
5. Short-lived tokens + automated rotation; block long-lived credentials.
6. Alerting & anomaly detection on bulk exports and unusual SOQL patterns.
7. Vendor reviews: require proof of audit logs, rotation cadences, incident playbooks.

Why Teams Are Replacing Drift With Worknet

Security-first architecture

• Least-privilege CRM access and granular scopes
• Short-lived tokens, automated rotation, and scoped connections
• Comprehensive audit trails and anomaly monitoring across integrations

Better outcomes with lower risk

• Proactive AI engages users contextually in-app or on the site (not just reactive chat)
• Hybrid handoff: seamless escalation to experts via Slack or Teams
• Deep but safe integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Zendesk, analytics, and more
• Continuous learning: automation coverage improves from observed resolutions

Result: Worknet preserves the revenue impact of conversational AI while reducing integration risk exposure.

FAQ

Was Salesforce itself breached?
No. The incident leveraged trusted integration tokens to query customer Salesforce data via the Drift connection.

If our company didn’t connect Drift to Salesforce, are we affected?
Risk concentrated where Drift ↔ Salesforce was connected. Still, review any other third-party CRM integrations.

What questions should we ask any chat/AI vendor now?

• What OAuth scopes do you require?
• How long do tokens live, and how are they rotated?
• Can we get audit logs of every object you query?
• What alerts fire on bulk exports or unusual queries?
• How quickly can you revoke/contain a compromised integration?

Why Worknet over “another chatbot”?
Worknet combines proactive AI with a security-first integration model (scoped access, rotation, auditability) + seamless human handoff, driving revenue without expanding your attack surface.

Conclusion

The 2025 Drift–Salesforce incident shows how a single integration can become a high-impact data exposure. The fix is not abandoning chat—it’s choosing a security-first platform. Worknet gives teams the same or better conversion lift, with tighter scopes, shorter-lived tokens, deeper auditability, and proactive monitoring built in.

Your chatbot should accelerate growth—not introduce risk.
Evaluate Worknet to protect customer trust while leveling up engagement.

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