Australian Finance Firm Latitude Won't Pay Ransom After Cyber Attack

Latitude Group Holdings Ltd, Australian consumer finance company. (photo: twitter @latitude_fs)

JAKARTA - Latitude Group Holdings Ltd, Australia's consumer financial company, announced that it would not pay ransom to cyberattackers last month. They said that this would harm customers and cause wider damage by pushing for further attacks.

"We will not reward criminal behavior, and we do not believe that paying the ransom will return or destroy the stolen information," Latitude said in a statement on Tuesday, April 11, as quoted by Reuters.

Last month, the company said hackers stole nearly 8 million SIM numbers for Australian and New Zealand drivers in one of the country's largest confirmed data leaks.

Latitude, which provides consumer financial services to retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi, has also disabled its platforms.

"Regular business operations are being restored, with Latitude's main customer Contact Center back online and operating at full capacity," the company said.

Several Australian companies have reported cyberattacks over the past few months, which experts attribute to the labor-deficient cybersecurity industry.