The recently reportedly Acorn Stairlifts cyberattack appears to have been an attempt to break into the company’s systems using malware, media reports confirm.
It is not yet known as to whether any information has been exposed or stolen, but the systems that were affected are understood to be back working again.
This is yet another cyberattack that has caused huge disruption, which is a growing trend and has been especially prevalent during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
What we know about the Acorn Stairlifts cyberattack
There has not been too much in the way of clarity in respect of the reported Acorn Stairlifts cyberattack so far. According to the Telegraph and Argus, the company started having IT infrastructure problems back in October 2021. Customers were informed of the difficulties and some of their systems went down.
Systems appear to have been restored toward the end of October, and it is then understood that the company told the Telegraph and Argus that they had been battling an attempted malware attack that had reportedly hit its global computer systems. It remains unknown as to whether any personal information of customers and/or staff has been exposed or stolen, but the relevant authorities have been made aware of the incident.
Hopefully, the Acorn Stairlifts cyberattack will not result in any exposed information.
The growing problem of cyberattacks
The Acorn Stairlifts cyberattack is just one of many that have occurred over the last few years, and it seems that we are hearing about more and more incidents as time goes on. We know that the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic has not helped, with the forced shift to remote working opening up all sorts of vulnerabilities for companies that have been seized on as opportunities by hackers. But more and more data is being stolen, and more and more people are falling victim to cyberattacks.
There are plenty of ways in which hackers and criminals can make money from a cyberattack. Ransomware is a popular one, where they can lock organisations out of their own systems and could effectively cripple business operations, costing millions. They can then demand huge ransoms from their victims in order to restore their systems. In some cases, hackers will threaten to expose vulnerable information unless the ransom is paid.
Even without ransomware in play, information can be a valuable asset. It can be used to commit fraud and theft, and it has a value that can be exploited by the hackers themselves, or can be sold on the dark web to fraudsters who will then go on to misuse it.
The importance of our work
We are Your Lawyers – also known as The Data Leak Lawyers – and we are a leading firm of privacy compensation experts. We have been doing this for way longer than most other firms out there who are only recently taking on data protection breach compensation cases. Our experience dates back to 2014, which means that we have been involved in representing victims of some of the most infamous events to have ever taken place.
When it comes to cyberattacks, victims can be eligible to claim data breach compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis. You could be eligible to claim damages for any distress caused by the loss of control of your personal information, and/or for any losses and expenses incurred. You do not have to have actually lost or paid anything out to claim as you can recover damages for the distress alone. If the organisation that has been hit by the cyberattack has failed to do enough to protect and secure your information, that is when you may be eligible to claim.
You can speak to our expert team here now for free, no-obligation advice.