Latitude Financial has refused to accept a ransom demand from the hackers behind an online attack last month.
Latitude Financial CEO Bob Belan confirmed the company would not support criminal activity.
"Latitude will not pay a ransom to criminals. Based on the evidence and advice, there is simply no guarantee that doing so would result in any customer data being destroyed, and it would only encourage further extortion attempts on Australian and New Zealand businesses in the future.”
Latitude Financial noted the decision is consistent with the position of the Australian Government.
The company also confirmed that the stolen data the hackers have detailed as part of their ransom threat is consistent with the number of affected customers disclosed by Latitude in its March 27 announcement.
The matter is currently under investigation by the Australian Federal Police. Latitude said it will continue to work with the Australian Cyber Security Centre and cyber-security experts on future responses.
The company revealed it is in the process of contacting current customers, past customers and applicants whose information was compromised, outlining details of the information stolen, the support it will provide to them and plans for remediation.
"Our priority remains on contacting every customer whose personal information was compromised and to support them through this process,” Belan said. "In parallel, our teams have been focused on safely restoring our IT systems, bringing staffing levels back to full capacity, enhancing security protections and returning to normal operations.”
Latitude reported that its regular business operations are being restored, with its primary Customer Contact Centre back online and operating at full capacity. The company confirmed it also has insurance policies to cover risks, including cyber-security incidents, and that it has notified its insurers in respect of this incident.
"I apologise personally and sincerely for the distress that this cyber-attack has caused and I hope that in time we are able to earn back the confidence of our customers," Belan said.
Latitude Financial offers loans, credit cards and insurance. It recently signed a 10-year agreement with department store David Jones.
Latitude reported that there has been no suspicious activity inside Latitude's systems since Thursday, March 16, 2023.