Hackers reportedly demanding $1 million ransom from beer producer Lion

One of Australia’s biggest beer producers is reportedly being asked for a $1 million ransom to save its confidential data from being posted online.

Lion has suffered a cyber attack. Picture: lionco.com

One of Australia’s biggest beer producers is reportedly being asked for a $1 million ransom to save its confidential data from being posted on the dark web.

Lion, which produces Little Creatures, XXXX, Tooheys and James Squire as well as dairy brands Dairy Farmers and Pura, suffered a ransomware attack that caused a partial IT outage last week.

In a statement released today it said: “Despite experiencing some setbacks over the last 24 hours, which is consistent with this kind of cyber-attack, our team of local and international experts are working hard to safely restore our systems and further improve our defences”.

Hackers have now threatened to publish financial and personal information of its clients if a $1 million ransom is not paid, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“You have 5 days to contact us and pay, otherwise all your financial, personal information your clients and other important confidential (sic) documents will be published or put up for auction,” a note reportedly published on the dark web states.

In its statement Lion said it was aware of reports of its document lists being posted online in recent days.

“Given this development, our expert teams are doing all they can to investigate whether any data has been removed from our system,” it said.

“Unfortunately, based on the experience of others in this situation, it is possible this may have occurred.

“We’ve made contact with stakeholders as a precaution, as we believe this is the right thing to do.

“In the future, if we have concerns about or if we identify any data misuse we will be in touch with the affected individuals directly.”

It came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed today Australian agencies and businesses were being targeted in cyber attacks thought to be linked to China.

RELATED: Aussie spy agencies warned PM about cyber attack

Lion produces many popular beers including Fifty Lashes and XXXX. Picture: lionco.com

“I’m here today to advise you that, based on advice provided to me by our cyber experts, Australian organisations are currently being targeted by a sophisticated State-based cyber actor,’’ Mr Morrison told reporters.

“This activity is targeting Australian organisations across a range of sectors, including all levels of Government, industry, political organisations, education, health, essential service providers and operators of other critical infrastructure.

“We know it is a sophisticated State-based cyber actor because of the scale and nature of the targeting and the trade craft used.”