SSKB, headed by former Wallaby Dan Herbert, said it had “experienced a cyber incident” in which a third party had gained access to the company’s system and downloaded some information and then posted a ransom demand on the dark web.

It follows the recent hacking of Optus and Medibank.

“As soon as we became aware of the unauthorised access, we deactivated the systems involved and secured our IT environment,” Herbert said.

“We have engaged a leading external cyber security and forensic IT experts to support us in responding to this incident.

“We are working as swiftly as possible to determine what, if any, personal or sensitive information may be contained in the dataset that was downloaded.

“Should we identify this is the case, we will work to meet our obligations and notify any individuals at risk as soon as we can.”

The company has contacted the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the Australian Cyber Security Centre and said it would continue to take their advice.

The company has yet to confirm reports in The Australian that suggested the hackers downloaded about 200 gigabytes of data and had demanded payment of $460,000.