Why do hackers do what they do? Some do it for kicks, some form out of the challenge and of course, many do it for money.
However, some do it for revenge and out of pure vindictiveness.
This was the reason given by a couple from Vietnam who firstly attempted a ransomware attack and when that didn’t work, hit the delete key!
The victim? IHG, a global chain of hotels. They own a wealth of brands including the luxury Six Senses and also more mainstream properties such as Holiday Inn.
Joe Tidy has the lowdown on what happened over on the BBC website and is well worth a read.
What really tops off this story is the password… Firstly, all 200,000 employees had access to the password vault. Secondly and wait for it… The password was Qwerty1234. Yes, really.
The moral of this sad tale is that you should use a “proper” password, not let everyone have access to your passwords and last but not least, be very cautious with emails with links and attachments. The hackers said that they gained access to the internal IT network by tricking an employee into downloading a malicious piece of software through a booby-trapped email attachment. Oops.
Now I’m sure you are reading this and thinking, that could never happen to me, but you would be surprised. Many, many people have inadvertently clicked / opened something they should have left well alone, but when tired, in a rush or distracted, it’s easy to do.
Stay alert out there.