Google confirms hackers are targeting employees with extortion emails

Google

It seems even big tech giants aren’t safe from hackers. Google has confirmed that some of its employees are being targeted in a new cyber attack. According to the company, hackers are sending extortion emails to executives, claiming they have stolen sensitive data from Google’s Oracle business applications.

The group behind these emails claims to be linked to the notorious ransomware gang cl0p, which has been involved in several high-profile cyber attacks in the past. In these emails, the hackers are threatening to leak sensitive information unless their demands are met. However, Google has clarified that it doesn’t yet have enough evidence to confirm whether the hackers actually have the data they claim to possess.

The company also mentioned that this is a “high-volume” email campaign, meaning many executives across different organizations could be receiving these messages. While Google hasn’t shared specific numbers or detailed how many employees are affected, the company is clearly taking the threat seriously and monitoring the situation closely.

At this point, neither cl0p nor Oracle has responded to requests for comment, so the full scale of the incident is still unclear. But the fact that hackers are openly targeting executives at major corporations like Google is a reminder of just how sophisticated and persistent cybercriminals have become.

For Google employees — and really anyone in the corporate world — this serves as a stark warning: always be cautious with suspicious emails, never click on unknown links, and report anything unusual to your IT team immediately. Even tech giants with huge cybersecurity budgets are not immune to these threats.

In short, while Google is investigating and assessing the situation, the incident highlights a growing trend in cybercrime: hackers are not just going after company networks; they’re going straight for executives, hoping that fear and pressure will make victims comply. It’s a modern reminder that in today’s digital age, cybersecurity is more critical than ever.