Google flags surge in cyber extortion targeting top executives

Alphabet’s Google warned that senior leaders at multiple companies are being hit by a fresh wave of cyber-extortion emails. Attackers claim to have stolen sensitive business data from Oracle’s E-Business Suite and threaten to leak it unless they are paid, Google said. The company described the campaign as high-volume but noted it lacks sufficient evidence to verify the hackers’ assertions. Security researchers at Halcyon said they have seen demands ranging into seven and eight figures, with the highest at about $50 million. Analysts cautioned that attribution remains murky, with overlapping groups and copycats complicating efforts to pin responsibility on any one outfit. Google said messages seeking comment from the alleged perpetrators and from Oracle went unanswered. It urged executives and security teams to treat such emails with caution, validate any breach claims independently and ensure incident-response plans are up to date while authorities investigate.