One weak password leaves 700 jobless; this major cyberattack wiped out 158-year-old company; firm was…, incident occurred in…

Passwords are the first layer of online security. It is important that the passwords are strong, unique, and kept confidential. Having unique passwords for each of your accounts can help to protect your personal information from potential hackers. Additionally, it helps to prevent a single breach from impacting multiple services.

A single compromised password is believed to have been enough for a ransomware gang to bring down a 158-year-old company, KNP, a transport firm based in Northamptonshire, leaving 700 employees out of work.

Who was behind the devastating ransomware attack?

KNP is just one among tens of thousands of UK businesses targeted by similar cyberattacks. In recent months, major brands like M&S, Co-op, and Harrods have also fallen victim. According to the BBC report, the Co-op’s CEO recently confirmed that data of all 6.5 million members was stolen in an attack.

Which hacking group carried out the attack and what did they demand?

In 2023, KNP had a fleet of 500 lorries, mostly operating under the famous brand Knights of Old. The company had reasonable cybersecurity measures in place, which met industry standards, and insurance against cyberattacks. However, KNP fell victim to a ransomware group called Akira, reported BBC.

The hackers gained entry into KNP’s systems and locked staff out of the critical data needed to run the firm. The attackers demanded a ransom, claiming that paying the ransom was the only way to obtain information that had been compromised.

According to the BBC report, the ransom note read, “If you’re reading this it means the internal infrastructure of your company is fully or partially dead…Let’s keep all the tears and resentment to ourselves and try to build a constructive dialogue.”

The hackers did not publish a ransom amount, but experts from a specialist ransomware negotiation firm estimated it could be as high as £5 million. KNP could not afford to pay out that amount. The company ultimately lost all its data and with that, its ability to trade was lost, and KNP ultimately went out of business. According to the UK government’s cyber-security survey, approximately 19,000 ransomware attacks hit UK businesses last year.

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