By now, you will have heard of the extensive cyber attacks on Marks & Spencer and Co-op that have caused mass disruption, resulting in significant operational interruption, impacting supply chains and customer data. We encourage you to take up security measures, if you haven’t already, to protect your business from the threat of cyber attacks and security breaches.
What Happened in the M&S Cyber Attack?
Over Easter weekend, M&S was a victim of a cyber attack on their systems, and four weeks later they are still experiencing issues getting their systems back online. The cyber attack, which saw malicious ransomware being installed on their systems, was performed by a party employing the DragonForce cyber crime service. Worryingly, customer personal data has been stolen; however, there is currently no indication that the stolen data has been shared.
What is DragonForce?
DragonForce is a group that offers criminal affiliate services on the dark web, acting on behalf of their clients and taking a 20% cut of ransoms collected. They not only steal data but scramble it on victims’ systems, asking a ransom fee for unscrambling and subsequently deleting any data they hold. This two-pronged approach, not only rendering systems unusable but also threatening to release the data they’ve stolen publicly, is effective; many companies are willing to avoid public data breaches, and the loss of trust they bring, at all costs. For those unwilling, or unable, to pay, often the only solution is to use back-ups or to install new systems and start from scratch.
The scary part, if this wasn’t already scary enough, is that anyone can sign up to use DragonForce’s malicious software, and as the service is on the dark web, made for criminals, there is little chance of discovering precisely who is behind the attacks.
Co-op Cyber Attack
The Co-op also experienced a similar cyber attack but managed to avoid a situation on the same scale as M&S. After their systems were infiltrated, they quickly discovered the attack and swiftly shut down some IT systems. Whilst switching off the systems prevented further attack, it did result in compromised customer and staff data, in addition to goods shortages and payment problems for a few weeks.
Impacts of a Hacked Website
If a cyber attack results in your website going down, customers won’t be able to purchase online or get in contact with you. This not only causes lost revenue, but it can negatively affect your reputation and customer trust, which can result in high costs for your business as you recover.
Furthermore, Google may block your website from being searchable, and web browsers may display warning messages to would-be visitors if they detect malware on your website. We can request that Google re-evaluates your site so that it can rank again in search results, but only once your site is functioning correctly again.
Prevention of Cyber Attacks
Based on current events, we’ve put together a checklist that all businesses should follow to help prevent security breaches and cyber attacks.
Update Usernames & Passwords
It’s relatively easy for hackers to guess a username, such as ‘admin’, to try and login to your website. That’s why we recommend changing your usernames to a random string of characters. Include letters, numbers and special characters (such as !*._). The same applies to passwords.
Two-Factor Authentication Website Access
We would also advise setting up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for each administrator on your website. This requires admins to input a unique code upon logging in, in addition to their password, which further helps to keep your website secure from hackers. We can help you set up 2FA as well as recommend an authenticator app which will generate a unique code each time you log in to the site.
Secure Servers
Website servers are frequent targets for hackers seeking vulnerabilities. To enhance your security, we highly recommend investing in secure hosting. Ballyhoo offers secure and fast hosting packages, where we host your website on our own managed servers that are continually monitored and maintained. All websites include SSL as standard and we take pride in ensuring that our infrastructure and team can handle anything thrown at it.
Maintain Software Updates
Outdated software is the most common reason for an infected website, as it can easily be hacked using automated programs. If you have a WordPress website, you should update your WordPress version, theme and plugins as soon as updates become available. Ballyhoo’s WordPress website support package allows us to keep your website and plugins updated to the latest versions at all times and troubleshoot any issues that arise.
Back Up Your Site Regularly
You should get into the habit of backing up your website regularly, which will allow you to restore a backup taken before a hack, should a security breach occur. This protects you from data loss through hacking and malware infections, as backups can be restored for a swift clean-up. With our hosting packages, websites files are backed up every 24 hours and databases can be rolled back to any point in time within the last fortnight.
Disaster Recovery
If you find yourself in the position that your website has been hacked, you can rely on Ballyhoo to help. Even if you’re not already a client, our website disaster recovery service allows you to get your website back up and running, with investigation to find a fix and help to restore your systems, in addition to transferring your hosting and DNS to our secure servers.
Outlook
Unfortunately, high-profile websites will always attract malicious individuals, and even small sites aren’t safe if you don’t have the proper precautions in place. To safeguard your business, follow our tips to put all the necessary precautions in place and feel free to reach out for assistance or a bespoke security plan.
