Nationalist Party won't negotiate with hackers - Bernard Grech

The Nationalist Party will not be negotiating with hackers currently holding stolen party documents at a ransom, Bernard Grech insisted.

During an interview on Sunday, the Nationalist Party leader confirmed that the PN will not pay out any money for the data in question.

The data theft happened last Monday, with cyber criminals threatening to leak valuable data stolen from the Nationalist Party's servers.

The hackers posted the threat on their dark web page, showing limited screenshots of the data.

According to these screenshots, the data includes employee details, passport pictures, and studio rota.

Instead of paying the ransom, which MaltaToday reported to be €5,000 in the Sunday newspaper, Grech said that the party is cooperating with local authorities to find a solution.

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Meanwhile, a magisterial inquiry is underway while police are investigation the hack.

The hackers gave the PN a 240-hour deadline to "communicate and cooperate" with them. If the deadline expires, the hackers said that they will leak the company documents.

MPs must keep in step of the party 

Speaking with veteran journalist Peppi Azzopardi, Bernard Grech gave some insight into the party's internal strategy in the run-up to the general election.

He said that PN MPs could be excluded from contesting the next general election if they fail to toe the party line.

Grech said that an attitude change is needed in the PN, as is evident through the party's poor polling results, and added that he will take all steps necessary to ensure that no one prejudices the party's chances in the coming election.