In a nutshell: The 158-year-old firm had roughly 700 employees on its payroll and had industry standard security measures in place, including insurance against cyberattacks. But when a group of hackers managed to break into their system by guessing an employee password and encrypted all of their data, it was the end of the line for the trucking company.
A business is only as strong as its weakest link and when that weak point happens to be an employee's easy-to-guess password, the outcome can be devastating. Such was the case for KNP, a transport company that operated around 500 big rigs out of Northamptonshire.
The attackers didn't say how much the ransomware key would cost, but a specialist firm estimated it might cost KNP as much as five million pounds. Even with insurance, that was more than the company could pay. Ultimately, KNP shut down and hundreds of people were put out of a job.
KNP director Paul Abbott told the BBC that he never told the employee with the weak password that their compromised credentials led to the company's downfall. "Would you want to know if it was you?" he questioned.
Stories like KNP's are more commonplace than you might realize. Cybercriminals like those that hit KNP simply look for weak links in security. "They're just constantly finding organizations on a bad day and then taking advantage of them," a National Cyber Security Center team member named "Sam" (not his real name) said.
Part of the problem, Sam added, is that there are a lot of attackers. 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 is around four million pounds and around one in three companies simply pay up to keep the ship afloat.
Despite multiple layers of protection, the problem is only growing. Suzanne Grimmer, who runs a team at the National Crime Agency, said the number of attacks have nearly doubled over the past two years. "If it continues, I predict it's going to be the worst year on record for ransomware attacks in the UK," Grimmer added.
As for Abbott, he now spends his time warning other companies about the dangers posed by cyber criminals.
Image credit: Jason Mitrione, FlyD
