Ransomware Ruins Historic UK Firm After Single Password Breach

A single weak password has brought a traditional British company to the brink of ruin. This enabled attackers to gain access to the company network and install ransomware against which no herb was up to.

700 jobs away

The KNP company from Northamptonshire, which recently operated around 500 trucks under the brand name “Knights of Old”, fell victim to a devastating ransomware attack in 2023 – with dramatic consequences: 700 employees have lost their jobs so far, reported the BBC. Criminals from the “Akira” group had managed to get access to the internal system by guessing an employee password. They encrypted all company data and paralyzed the IT infrastructure. According to the attackers, the only way to restore the data was to pay a ransom. It is estimated that the claim could have been up to £ five million. This was priceless for KNP.

“If you read this, your infrastructure is completely or partially dead,” said the extortion center. A sum was not mentioned. In the end, the company had nothing – no data, no operation, no future. The company was no longer able to recover from this blow. KNP had previously assured that his IT corresponded to the industry standards and was insured against cyber attacks. Nevertheless, the attackers were able to do damage with relatively simple means. Paul Abbott, managing director of the company, does not see any guilt for the employee concerned: “Would you want to know if it was your fault?” He asks in retrospect.

No isolated case

According to the British National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), such attacks are far from being individual cases. The authority processes a serious cyber incident every day. “The attackers simply take advantage of the weakest moment of a company,” said an NCSC employee who wanted to remain anonymous.

The threat situation is serious: around 19,000 ransomware attacks were committed to British companies last year, as can be seen from a government survey. The average ransom claim is around four million pounds. Around a third of the companies concerned pay – often for fear of complete data loss.