MediaWorks hackers contacting victims

WELLINGTON: Hackers connected to a MediaWorks data breach are demanding a ransom of $US500 ($NZ820) in cryptocurrency from one of the victims of the data leakage.

MediaWorks confirmed a database containing information from individuals who entered its online competitions was breached.

It follows a post on an internet forum last Thursday, which claimed to have stolen data from 2.5 million New Zealanders.

The author of the post said they planned to sell the information, which included people’s names, addresses, dates of birth and contact details.

One man — who did not wish to be named — told RNZ he had received an email, purportedly from the hackers, on Thursday. He said it had been sent to almost 100 other addresses, from an account that had allegedly been hacked.

The subject line of the email read: ‘‘Attention! Your data has been leaked!’’.

‘‘We are writing to inform you of a concerning data breach at MediaWorks New Zealand that has compromised the personal information of 2.5 million New Zealand citizens, including yours. We attempted to negotiate with MediaWorks by offering a very low price to have them secure the data, but unfortunately, they displayed a disappointing lack of concern and refused. Their dismissive attitude, treating the data as valueless, has led us to consider releasing it publicly.

‘‘Therefore, we are contacting you because your information is part of the leaked data. To protect yourself from potential harm, we are offering a onetime opportunity to have your data removed for a fee of $500 USD in Bitcoin (BTC). This fee helps us cover the costs associated with recovering and deleting your data,’’ it said.

The man said he initially deleted the email, but restored it after hearing news reports about the alleged hack. He had contacted the Privacy Commissioner, CERT NZ and Netsafe yesterday, he said.

‘‘I also did try and contact MediaWorks but as yet I haven’t had a call back from them.’’

In a statement, MediaWorks said it became aware of the claims on Friday night. It continued to investigate which parts of the database had been accessed and how the hack had happened.

The company said initial assessments indicated the number of people in the database was significantly lower than reported.

‘‘As soon as we identified the database concerned it was taken offline and all current competition entries have been moved to a new secure database,’’ a spokesperson said.

MediaWorks was in contact with the appropriate authorities and would communicate directly with affected people, it said. — RNZ