Google faces hacker ultimatum to fire two employees or risk data leak

A hacker group called Scattered LapSus Hunters demands that Google fire two employees and stop network probes, threatening to leak records.

Hackers have warned to leak Google records unless the firm terminates two workers, Newsweek reported, citing a Telegram post.

Hackers known as Scattered LapSus Hunters warned Google to fire two workers (Pixabay)

The post, which purportedly came from a hacker group, demanded that the tech giant cease Google Threat Intelligence Group's network probes and fire two employees. Hindustan Times has not mentioned their names due to privacy concerns.

The group, which includes members from various hacker organisations like Scattered Spider, LapSus, and ShinyHunters, is said to be a network of hackers. The group has dubbed itself Scattered LapSus Hunters.

The threat comes following Google's announcement in August that ShinyHunters obtained information from Salesforce, a third-party that helps Google with certain services. However, the group did not disclose or offer any evidence that they have got access to any Google databases. Moreover, there had been no recent compromises of Google data.

Google issues global Gmail data breach warning

In wake of the data breach affecting one of its Salesforce databases, Google has sent out a global security alert urging its 2.5 billion Gmail users to change their passwords.

While there was no direct breach of consumer Gmail or Cloud accounts, the incident has set off a fierce wave of hacking and impersonation attempts that target users on the platform.

While there were no passwords or private customer information in the compromised database, a flurry of phishing attempts have been launched using the stolen company contact information to replicate official Google communication.

Google's security research team reports that 37 percent of accounts hijacking across Google platforms are now the result of phishing and "vishing"—voice phishing through phone calls.

Hackers have used the compromised business contact details, including client and business names, to create incredibly realistic phishing emails and voice-based frauds involving social engineering.

The tech giant said in a blog post on August 5 that the hacker group responsible for the breach, known as ShinyHunters, obtained access by pretending to be an IT help desk to a Google employee before using malware to steal the database contents.