The Brisbane-based company paid a ransom to the hackers but contacted police after it was attacked again and an executive’s child targeted online

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Hackers extorted an international company based in Brisbane for a ransom paid out in bitcoin but then escalated their demands by threatening online attacks on a senior employee’s child, Queensland police have said.

The company, which police refused to identify, paid the hackers an initial ransom worth thousands of dollars after its computer system was hacked and sensitive data stolen earlier this year.

When the company refused a further larger ransom demand and contacted police, hackers then “profiled a senior member of the organisation, identified their family and threatened to discredit members of his family through online attacks particularly targeting a child”, police said.

The case prompted acting assistant commissioner Brian Hay to warn that businesses should never give in to extortion demands but also be wary of posting personal information on social media that could be exploited as leverage by cyber criminals.

“This was a very serious attack on an organisation and quite traumatic for the business, the victim and his family,” Hay said.

“We are strongly urging business to ensure their computer systems are secure and protected from hackers, that they adopt a policy of not paying ransom demands and carefully consider the information posted on social media.

“Organisations need to think about putting in place a strategy to counteract or respond to these type of incidents. But the one message that I cannot stress enough is to never comply with extortion demands and report these matters to us immediately.”