Hackers issue demand

HACKERS behind the ransomware that last week devastated overseas banks, power stations, and even Tasmania’s Cadbury factory have issued a new ransom demand – for much more money than before.

The new ransom note, published in two places on the Dark Web, demanded a payment of 100 Bitcoins, about $340,000, in return for a private security key that could decrypt any file locked by the Petya/Goldeneye malware.

The malware was launched in the Ukraine on Tuesday last week and rapidly spread to as many as 16,000 computers in 64 countries.