An ASX 200 company has been hit by a "malicious" IT phishing attack.
Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC), a large fresh produce grower and marketer, advised of the attack late last week.
Costa shares fell 1.79% before recovering to their current price of $2.23, 0.45% lower. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is down 1.31% today.
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Cyber attack
Costa advised the "sophisticated" attack took place on 21 August. A review of the incident took place at that time.
The attack involves 10% of data on a single server at Costa's Corindi, NSW site.
Costa said most of the information stored on the server is not personal information. But there is a risk personal information of workers on the company's berry farms has been accessed.
This could include passport details, bank details, superannuation details, and tax file numbers.
In September, 10 million Optus customer records were stolen in a major cyber hack.
However, unlike Optus, the attack on Costa's system does not include customer records.
There is no evidence any personal information of workers has been leaked online at this stage.
Commenting on the news, Costa interim CEO Harry Debney said:
This is a malicious attack, which was sophisticated in its execution. Our first concern is for the impact this may have on our current and former employees.
I can also confirm that no core business applications were accessed, nor was any customer or supplier data comprised by the attack.
Costa recommends those impacted take steps to minimise risk of the data being used unlawfully.
The company has also notified authorities of the attack.
Share price snapshot
The Costa share price has fallen 27%in the past year, while it has lost 26.6% in the year to date.
Costa has a market capitalisation of more than $1 billion based on the current share price.
