Hackers demand 48 million: Unable to pay, bankruptcy, 700 people unemployed… All because the password was too simple…

A British transportation company with a 158-year history unfortunately went bankrupt after being hit by a ransomware attack.
Some 500 trucks of Knights of Old (KNP) in Northamptonshire are currently unable to hit the road and 700 people have lost their jobs, all due to the money-hungry cyber-attackers known as “Akira”.
It is claimed that this gang of cybercriminals broke into the company’s internet system through a weak password used by an employee of KNP.
In fact, this password is too weak and can be guessed very easily.
The system does not have MFA enabled, providing an opportunity for attacks.
Of course, KNP is unwilling to disclose the name of the employee who leaked the password.
After breaking through this weakest link, the hackers encrypted and locked down the operational data of KNP.
Subsequently, this gang of lawbreakers informed KNP that the only way to unlock the data was to pay up obediently.
The ransom note left by the hacker reads as follows: “If you are reading this letter, it means that your company’s internal infrastructure has been completely or partially paralyzed… It’s better to put away all your tears and resentment and strive to have a constructive dialogue.”
 
 
Although the BBC report did not elaborate further, this story was also the subject of a “Panorama” documentary released this week.
According to the documentary, KNP had previously purchased cyber attack insurance. Its service provider, Solace Global, dispatched a “cyber crisis” team to assist and they arrived at the scene the next morning.
According to Paul Cashmore of Solace, the team quickly found out that all the data of KNP had been encrypted, all servers, backups and disaster recovery systems had been compromised. In addition, all terminals had also been invaded, which was undoubtedly the worst situation.
With the assistance of a professional company, KNP evaluated the demands made by the ransomware gang and estimated that the amount demanded could be as high as 5 million pounds (approximately 48.5 million yuan).
This sum far exceeded the affordability of KNP, and the documentary specifically pointed out that the company was “simply unable to pay”.
After being blackmailed, the company was unable to access its financial data, resulting in a cash flow disruption and an inability to obtain bank loans to sustain its ongoing warehouse expansion plan.
In September 2023, KNP announced its entry into a management process, resulting in the unemployment of approximately 730 employees.