Hacker demands $400,000 ransom from Kuwaiti ministry of finance following system breach.

Dhabi: A hacker who breached the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance’s systems last week has threatened to sell the acquired data unless the ministry pays a ransom.

The cybercriminal has demanded a payment of approximately 15 bitcoins, which equates to around $400,000, and has set a 7-day deadline for the ministry to meet his demands.

Despite the threats, the ministry has reiterated that it does not store data related to government employees’ salaries in its systems. Via its account on the “X” platform (formerly known as Twitter), the ministry assured the public that since the day of the cyber-attack, its systems have been isolated from other government entities. Furthermore, it emphasised that all financial transactions of government agencies are proceeding normally.

On September 18, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance disclosed that one of its systems was compromised by a virus.

However, they confirmed that the hack would not impact salary transfer procedures, as the government’s financial systems operate independently.