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Firm hacked after accidentally hiring North Korean cyber criminal

The hacker downloaded sensitive data from the company and used it to send a ransom demand.

After the company sacked him for poor performance, it received ransom emails containing some of the stolen data and a demand to be paid a six-figure sum in cryptocurrency. But secret IT workers turning on their employers with cyber attacks is rare, according to Rafe Pilling, Director of Threat Intelligence at Secureworks. "No longer are they just after a steady pay check, they are looking for higher sums, more quickly, through data theft and extortion, from inside the company defences."

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