Australia may be one of the first countries in the world to ban ransomware payments.
Following a substantial cyber attack that impacted an Australian financial institution Latitude Financial, the nation's tech industry is calling on the government to ban ransom payments often demanded in cryptocurrency.
Latitude Financial disclosed on March 16th that it had been targeted in a cyber attack. At that time, the institution claimed that malicious actors obtained "Latitude employee login credentials."
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Almost a month later, on April 11th, the institution revealed that it had received a ransom demand that it opted not to fulfill.
Regarding the matter, Latitude Financial noted:
In line with advice from cybercrime experts, Latitude strongly believes that paying a ransom will be detrimental to our customers and cause harm to the broader community by encouraging further criminal attacks.
The attack led to the theft of approximately 7.9 million Australian and New Zealand driver's license numbers, 6.1 million customer records, 53,000 passport numbers, and 100 customer financial statements.
While the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), the government's principal cybersecurity agency, recommends against complying with ransom demands due to a lack of guarantees regarding the return of stolen information, there is no existing law that forbids businesses from paying the ransom.
The recent cyber attack on Latitude Financial has encouraged numerous members of the Australian tech sector to demand legislation prohibiting such payments.
Wayne Tufek, the Director of cybersecurity firm CyberRisk, when talking to local media outlet The Australian, suggested that “making ransom payments illegal would act as a deterrent for criminals to continue attacks if they know that they won’t be paid large sums of money.”
Cyber Security Minister Clare O'Neil is examining whether to declare ransom payments illegal based on recommendations from a report on Australia's cybersecurity strategy. The publication has recognized Australia as a prime target for cybercriminals due to its high wealth, with Australians frequently cited as having the world's highest median wealth per adult.
Cryptocurrency has long been considered a tool for executing ransomware attacks, as cybercriminals often demand payments in crypto to anonymize funds and enable international transfers. The malicious actors usually use mixing services, such as Tornado Cash, to hide the traces of illegal funds.
In other Australia-related news, at the beginning of March, the news broke that it is unlikely that Australia's comprehensive crypto regulation will launch in 2023.
