Australian police probe purported hacker’s ransom demand

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s second-largest wireless carrier says police are investigating that a purported hacker is already releasing the stolen personal data of its customers and demanding a $1 million ransom in cryptocurrency. The Australian government has blamed lax cybersecurity at Optus for the breach affecting 9.8 million people. A Sydney-based cybersecurity writer says the purported hacker released 10,000 Optus customer records on the dark web and threatened to release more unless Optus paid the ransom. Later Tuesday, the writer said the purported hacker had deleted his post along with three samples of the stolen data. He apparently withdrew the ransom demand, claimed the stolen data had been deleted and apologized to Optus customers. There was no indication why he changed his mind.