Australia's Latitude Group Opposed to Paying Ransom to Cyber Attack Criminals
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(Reuters) – Australian consumer finance company Latitude Group Holdings Ltd has decided not to pay a ransom for a cyberattack that occurred last month. The firm says it would be harmful to its customers and encourage more attacks.
Latitude stated in a Tuesday statement that it would not reward criminal behavior, nor did they believe that paying ransoms will lead to the return of stolen information or its destruction.
In one of the biggest data breaches in the country, hackers stole almost 8 million Australian and New Zealand driver's licence numbers last month.
Latitude, a provider of consumer finance services for Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi retailers, has also taken down its platforms.
The company said that "regular business operations have been restored and Latitude's main Customer Contact Centre is back online, operating at full capacity."
In the last few months, several Australian companies have reported cyber-attacks. Experts attribute this to a cyber security industry that is understaffed.