158-year-old company shut down because employees set weak passwords

A cyber attack has wiped out a shipping company that has been operating since before World War I, leaving 700 people out of work.

Hackers attacked, guessed passwords and encrypted all of KNP's data. Photo: iStock .

KNP Logistics, a 158-year-old British transport company, has been forced to close after falling victim to a serious ransomware attack, leaving around 700 employees out of work.

According to TechSpot , hackers entered KNP's systems by simply guessing employee passwords, encrypting the company's sensitive data and paralyzing internal operations.

KNP, which owns around 500 trucks under the famous Knights of Old brand, has standard cybersecurity measures in place, including cyberattack insurance. But that wasn’t enough to stop the notorious Akira ransomware group from taking down the company.

Hackers locked down KNP's systems and demanded a ransom in exchange for restoring access. Experts estimate the amount could be as high as £5 million (nearly $6.8 million ). Unable to comply with the demands, KNP lost all of its data and was eventually forced to shut down.

KNP is not alone. Major UK companies such as M&S, Harrods and Co-op have also faced serious cyber attacks. In particular, Co-op had data stolen from 6.5 million members.

Cybercrime is a growing threat in the UK. Richard Horne, chief executive of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), stressed the need for businesses to strengthen their digital defences.

“Hackers don’t come up with groundbreaking new tricks, they just find weaknesses and exploit them,” said Sam, a member of the NCSC’s incident response team.

According to the UK government ’s cyber security survey, there were an estimated 19,000 ransomware attacks on local businesses last year. The average ransom was around $5.4 million , and one in three companies paid just to stay afloat.

The KNP incident is a grim reminder of how a simple security flaw — a weak password — can bring down even long-standing, stable businesses.

Source: https://znews.vn/cong-ty-158-tuoi-bi-dong-cua-vi-nhan-vien-dat-mat-khau-yeu-post1570861.html