Google warns hackers sending extortion emails to executives

WASHINGTON: Alphabet’s Google has warned that hackers are bombarding company executives with threatening emails, claiming they have stolen sensitive information from Oracle business systems. 

The emails, linked to a ransomware group, demand massive payments to keep the alleged data from being exposed.

In a statement, Google said a group claiming affiliation with the ransomware gang cl0p was sending emails to “executives at numerous organisations claiming to have stolen sensitive data from their Oracle E-Business Suite.”

Google cautioned that it “does not currently have sufficient evidence to definitively assess the veracity of these claims.”

Cynthia Kaiser, the head of cybersecurity firm Halcyon’s Ransomware Research Centre, said her company had seen extortion demands “in the seven or eight figure range,” with the highest coming in at “$50 million.”

Kaiser noted some dispute over the connection to cl0p but said there are early indications that the perpetrators are potentially connected to the group.

“There’s so much overlap amongst all these groups, and there are copycats across the ecosystem,” Kaiser said, adding that additional information in the coming days will help paint a clearer picture.

Messages seeking comment from cl0p and Oracle were not returned. Google described the email campaign as “high-volume” but declined to share further details.