Authorities in Australia arrested a 19-year-old who allegedly tried to blackmail prospects of telecommunications firm Optus following a knowledge breach final month that impacted 1000’s of individuals.

The teenage hacker allegedly despatched out textual content messages to 93 Optus prospects to demand that $2,000 be deposited in a checking account, and threatened to promote and use their info for fraudulent exercise in the event that they don’t comply, The Guardian reported. Australian police recognized the account on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and made the arrest earlier than any of the victims had been pressured to pay the ransom.

The suspect had focused a bunch of people whose private info had been revealed on a public discussion board following a knowledge leak. In late September, 10,000 Optus prospects had their information hacked and revealed on a web based discussion board. The information included individuals’s house addresses, driver’s licenses, and passport info. The hacker group behind the information breach threatened to launch the knowledge of extra prospects except a $1 million ransom was paid. The submit was later taken down, and the person stated that they’d not promote the knowledge, in response to The Guardian.

Thursday’s arrest marks the primary arrest associated to the Optus information breach. The younger suspect may withstand 10 years in jail if convicted on expenses of utilizing a telecommunications community with the intent to commit a critical offense (blackmail) and coping with identification info. The hackers behind the preliminary information breach haven’t but been recognized and police say they are nonetheless investigating the incident.

The Optus information breach has prompted Australia to suggest a change to shopper privateness guidelines that may higher regulate the change of information between telecommunication companies and banks, Reuters reported.