Recently, the M&S cyber attack blighted the news. Before the world, the retail giants showed that even the big guns of retail can be vulnerable to online skulduggery. People were unable to place orders, and the maelstrom of media coverage made sure that Marks and Spencer’s suffered reputational, as well as financial, damage.
It would be easy for smaller businesses to look at the situation and make the assessment that they are too small for cybercriminals to be interested. After all, why would the pirates go after such a small ship when a frigate full of booty is sailing nearby.
It couldn’t happen to you, could it? Not a local business. Not a small business.
The reality is that 43% of cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses. The problem is, when they do hit, they can cause all sorts of damage.
In 2020 a Corby Business was hit
Avon, headquartered in Northampton, was hit in 2020 by a Cyber-Attack that closed their distribution centre in the Earlstrees Estate Corby. For over a week, Avon were unable to take orders on their website or fulfil orders.
The information taken included names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Moreover, the cyber-attack harmed the agency workers in the distribution centre, putting them out of work for a week and affecting their salary. Ultimately, this cost a local business a lot of money and damaged their reputation.
Kettering Based Business – Knights of Old
In 2023, haulier company Knights of Old was forced into administration following a cyber-attack. According to the BBC, Director Paul Abbott “felt [they] were in a very good place in terms of [their] security”, and yet the hackers’ still managed to hack the system and leave a ransom note.
Despite trying to continue to maintain operations, “the attack damaged key data, making it impossible to meet reporting deadlines set by lenders”. 730 employees lost their jobs, and a business that been operating for 160 years was forced to close.
All’s Well that Ends Well in Warwick
In 2016, Kettell Video Productions, Warwick, was targeted by cybercriminals. A self-employed videographer who filmed weddings, amongst other events, watched his videos being deleted unless he paid $1000 in bitcoin. In this instance, whilst he had been denied access, he didn’t pay the ransom as he was backed up offline.
A simple security measure that stopped reputational and financial damage to a small business in Warwick. Stuart Kettell told Warwickshire World, “In the end it was more an inconvenience…but it could have threatened the business.”
What should we learn from these incidents?
The first thing that links these cyber-attacks is that could all have been avoided. IT Support companies work hard to, not only to make sure that their customers have the best cyber-security solution available, but t be on hand if the worst should happen. Your IT infrastructure needs continuous maintenance and testing. These activities will help you avoid a cyber-attack.
But first it is important to know that you are not immune. If businesses in Kettering, Corby, and Warwick can all be attacked, then so can yours. It’s not just the big businesses that are being hacked, it’s businesses your size, or the size of your next-door neighbour. If you are unsure about the safety of your systems, contact us today to check out how protected you are.
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