Hacker seeks ransom from telecom firm for data

Australian police are investigating a purported hacker's release of the stolen personal data of Optus telecom customers and a demand for a US$1 million (HK$7.78 million) "ransom" in cryptocurrency.

Australian officials blamed lax cybersecurity at the nation's second-largest wireless carrier for the unprecedented breach last week of the personal data of 9.8 million current and former Optus customers.

Sydney-based cybersecurity writer Jeremy Kirk said the hacker who uses the online name Optusdata had released 10,000 customer records on the dark web and was threatening to release another 10,000 personal data sets daily for the next four days unless Optus paid the ransom.