Hackers responsible for successive cyber attacks on Lion Australia, the beverage giant behind beer brands Little Creatures, XXXX, Tooheys and James Squire, are threatening to auction or publish confidential company data on the dark web unless they are paid a reported ransom of $1 million.
Lion, which is also behind dairy brands Dairy Farmers and Pura, told employees during an all-staff meeting on Thursday afternoon that it had been hit by a second cyber attack that had further disrupted its IT systems. Company chief executive officer Stuart Irvine told employees that the beverage giant is now focusing on beefing up its network defences even as it continues to undo the damage to its systems from the first attack, according to a source who listened to the briefing.
The briefing came as hackers, claiming responsibility for the attacks, have provided proof that they have stolen confidential copies of the company's and its clients' files.
"You have 5 days to contact us and pay, otherwise all your financial, personal information your clients and other important confidential (sic) documents will be published or put up for auction," the hackers said in a note, accompanied by multiple screenshots of files.
A screenshot of the threat on the dark web.Credit:Dark web
The ransom note from the hackers has forced Lion to change its tune on whether the hackers had managed to pilfer sensitive company information through the attacks.
Lion had previously stated that there was "no evidence that any of the information contained in our system (including financial or personal information) has been affected" but it reversed that statement on Friday after being shown screenshots of its files posted on the dark web.
"Given this development, our expert teams are doing all they can to investigate whether any data has been removed from our system," a Lion spokeswoman said.
Lion beer chief executive officer Stuart Irvine, who has been working at home in Darling Point, Sydney, during the coronavirus pandemic.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
"Unfortunately, based on the experience of others in this situation, it is possible this may have occurred."
"As the Australian Prime Minister stated this morning, there are a range of sophisticated cyber attacks occurring on Australian businesses, governments, associations and political parties," Lion's spokeswoman said.
Lion added that its cyber security team continued to investigate the attack that caused what it now describes as a "partial IT outage" that was triggered by "ransomware".
It comes as industry news website iTWire reported that hackers used the REvil ransomware to attack the company and were demanding $US800,000 ($1.16m) to decrypt the company's files. In addition to locking up a company's files and crippling their IT systems, ransomware will often leak files on the dark web in small amounts as a bargaining tactic if a victim does not pay by the deadline.
"It’s important to reinforce that while this attack has had an impact on our operations, we are still brewing beer and manufacturing our dairy and drinks brands, and we’ve managed to keep shipping products to many of our customers," Lion's spokeswoman said. "While our service is still not at our expected levels, we are doing our very best to resume normal operations."
Get our Morning & Evening Edition newsletters
Ben Grubb is a Desk Editor/Locum Homepage Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.
Most Viewed in Technology
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMie2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnNtaC5jb20uYXUvdGVjaG5vbG9neS9oYWNrZXJzLXBvc3QtZXZpZGVuY2UtdGhleS1oYXZlLWJlZXItZ2lhbnQtbGlvbi1zLWNvbmZpZGVudGlhbC1maWxlcy0yMDIwMDYxOS1wNTU0OHMuaHRtbNIBe2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnNtaC5jb20uYXUvdGVjaG5vbG9neS9oYWNrZXJzLXBvc3QtZXZpZGVuY2UtdGhleS1oYXZlLWJlZXItZ2lhbnQtbGlvbi1zLWNvbmZpZGVudGlhbC1maWxlcy0yMDIwMDYxOS1wNTU0OHMuaHRtbA?oc=5
2020-06-19 02:38:17Z
52780862610847
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Hackers post evidence they have beer giant Lion's confidential files - Sydney Morning Herald"
Post a Comment