E-Land Group Vice Chairman Choi Jong-yang of E-Land Group, which was recently hit with a ransomware attack, said Friday that the company will not surrender to the threats of the hackers.

According to the South Korean fashion and retail conglomerate, Choi sent out an email to employees on Thursday in which he dismissed rumors that the hackers had acquired valuable corporate information.

On Nov. 22, E-Land Group suspended operations at nearly half of its stores due to a ransomware attack. The conglomerate has shut part of its corporate network system and asked police to investigate the cyberattack.

In the email, Choi explained the company is still under continuous threats by the hackers, who are asking for a large amount in ransom to not spread the information, including client data.

Choi insisted that the company‘s client data has not been breached -- contrary to the hackers’ claim -- since the data has been stored in systems separated from the ones recently attacked.

Choi added the company would put its best efforts to restore the corporate network systems that suffered the recent attack. 

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)