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Hacking Example

Hacking can take many forms, including exploiting vulnerabilities in software and hardware, using social engineering techniques to trick people into divulging sensitive information, and guessing passwords or using brute force attacks to gain access to systems

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CNC saves the day for company after major security breach

The hackers had sat on the company’s IT infrastructure for two weeks

An award-winning, three generations, family-owned business with more than 400 staff. A market leader since the 1960s, the company’s continued success has been built upon creating the very best B2B products in design and fabrication. So much so that their name is one of the most respected in British manufacturing circles. 

 The company was not a customer of CNC. On one weekend, CNC’s Managing Director received a phone call. The Operations Director for the company conveyed that they had found some key systems offline and were unable to get them back. On inspection, it was quickly deduced that the company had been subject to a Cyber Attack and all the company’s files had been encrypted with ransomware.  

The hackers had sat on the company’s IT infrastructure for two weeks learning all they could before they made their move.   

Come Monday morning, the company’s entire workforce, all came to a grinding halt. Nobody was able to do any work unless the ransom was either paid, or CNC could circumvent the hackers.

The Challenge​

CNC was going in blind; onto an IT infrastructure they had not supported. At the time of the attack, it was believed that all the company’s data information had been deleted by the hackers.

  • The company was unable to invoice, despatch, order equipment, or talk to their customers; everything was gone 
  • The company had no cyber insurance in place  
  • There was no current documentation as to how their system was configured 
  • There was no record of any passwords 
  • The email system was entirely compromised/offline 
  • Old unsupported servers had not been patched 
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It was believed that all the company’s data information had been deleted by the hackers

The Solution​​

  • After a long and systematic search of their entire network, a reliable backup was found 
  • Old servers retired 
  • Build new virtual servers, with up to date operating systems 
  • All 400 laptops and computers had to be erased and had to be reinstalled
  • A managed offsite backup solution for all servers 
  • Migrated to Microsoft 365 for emails with two-factor authentication 
  • Microsoft 365 Defender configured to filter all in and outbound mail 
  • Phishing and cyber security training has been rolled out among staff  
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“What CNC has done for us, is nothing short of a miracle. We really thought we had lost everything, every piece of information. But we got a break, and we’re really thankful to CNC for that. It’s been a steep costly, learning curve, but we’ve grown as a company from it, even better than before. This is not something that we want to experience again.”

Operations manager

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What CNC has done for us, is nothing short of a miracle

The Benefits

CNC offers an end-to-end cyber security consultation and implementation service. Call us now on 01273 384100 on how we can protect your business

The hacker’s impact across the company’s business infrastructure was nothing less than near catastrophic, both financially, and reputationally. Plus, all the effort thereafter to make up for the loss from the 3 weeks of downtime.  

Fewer issues

The system has been future proofed in its design and simplified with less points of failure, it is now easier to support, to resolve issues; better for the team, better for customers

Security

The company took advantage of the lessons learned from the breach, by upgrading its entire network.

New systems

The newly installed cyber security system now totally protects them today and for the future, with the latest up to date 24/7 security.

Cost savings

With the new systems in place make their logistics work harder, the company is now enjoying natural cost savings and improved efficiencies right across its supply chain.

Improved internal connectivity

The company is now building on improved internal connectivity, which is faster and more reliable, which means the team has improved its service level to its customers.

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