Japan's GMO Internet Group is offering up to $1 million in total for tips that help catch the attackers who breached its Onamae.com Desktop Cloud service, after refusing to pay an extortion demand.

The reward program opened on October 28 and pays only if a tip helps lead to an arrest or an international wanted notice. The service hosts Windows desktops used for FX trading, and a broker has linked unauthorized trades on some of its customers' accounts to logins leaked from the service.

GMO says the attackers took customer information. It received a demand for about $50 million (about ¥8 billion) on October 21 from people it believes carried out the attack. They have also threatened its customers' trading accounts and data.

On October 27, the attackers posted material on their website that they say is information about GMO and its customers. The site's domain, including its mirror sites, was shut down at about 4 a.m. Japan time on October 28, and GMO plans to act against any new site.

GMO Internet Group runs and pays for the program, called GMO Cybercrime Bounty. Tips are sent by email to an address listed on a dedicated website, in Japanese, English, or Chinese, and can be anonymous. The program is open until an arrest, an international wanted notice, or October 27, 2027, whichever comes first.

GMO wants information linking people, servers, domains, IP addresses, accounts, or cryptocurrency addresses to the attack, extortion, or movement of money, along with evidence of how the crimes were carried out.

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