I have this morning been reading about KNP – a Northamptonshire transport company that closed in 2023. One insecure password is believed to have been all it took for a ransomware gang to destroy a 158-year-old company and put 700 people out of work.
This story on BBC news today is by way of a taster for tonight’s Panorama program which is about the increasing cases of ransomware in UK business, and dramatically shows the devastating effects Computer Crime can have on any of us
You are perhaps thinking, this doesn’t affect me, I do not have a business, that of course was true of many of the workers, be they Wagon Drivers, Warehouse or Administrative workers, but if you follow up the story you will find lost homes, divorce and trauma for many of these people who were simply on the periphery
I am constantly upset at needing to help people who didn’t “think they could be affected” by Computer crime. “I don’t do online banking“, “there is nothing on my phone / computer“
There is a whole raft of things that can be done with the data from your phone or laptop, why are websites so keen to plant “cookies” on your device? – (simply, it’s information about you, and that adds up to power and money), They might perhaps take over your identity and take out a loan in your name, first you’ll know is when the bailiffs knock, or take over your BT account and make thousands of international calls, or use your ID for Drug Dealing.
There is one key point across all these issues and that is passwords
Passwords, Passwords, Passwords we can’t say it often enough
80 – 85% of Hacks are done via “legitimate credentials” – Passwords – including the KNP one where it is believed a password was obtained by “dictionary attack” (Trying multiple combinations of letters and characters), the recent attacks on M&S, the Coop and Harrods were apparently by using logins from their suppliers into their systems
80 – 85% of Hacks are done via “legitimate credentials” – Passwords – including the KNP one where it is believed a password was obtained by “dictionary attack” (Trying multiple combinations of letters and characters), the recent attacks on M&S, the Coop and Harrods were apparently by using logins from their suppliers into their systems
It is in fact quite simple to setup secure password systems and the whole IT industry is keen that you should do so as we don’t like being part of a Wild West show. However in their enthusiasm they try to push you into using a system that suits them rather than you
Having a multiplicity of different systems just causes confusion and is likely to lead to dumbing down of passwords. You need to have a little time-out and consider what kind of Password Security works best for you!
We quietly believe (saying it too loudly would make us a target) that we are good at advising and providing solutions for both personal users and businesses. We don’t have a onesize fits all approach and sometimes all you need is confirming that your current approach is fine, however we do have horror instances of businesses with inadequate passwords and inappropriately shared passwords etc
- BBC: (Richard Bilton) Weak password allowed hackers to sink a 158-year-old company
- BBC Panorama BBC One on Monday 21 July at 20:30
- Our blog articles
- https://cbits.co.uk/ourblog/index.php/cbrelated/history-andpassword-generator/
- https://cbits.co.uk/ourblog/index.php/cbrelated/2fa-do-you-know-fa-about-it/
- https://cbits.co.uk/ourblog/index.php/cbrelated/pin-your-passwords-together/
- https://cbits.co.uk/ourblog/index.php/cbrelated/password-managers/