{"id":1298128,"date":"2025-07-27T10:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T04:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1298128"},"modified":"2025-07-27T10:15:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T04:45:48","slug":"158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/","title":{"rendered":"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A 158-year-old UK transport company, KNP Logistics, was forced to shut down after falling victim to a devastating cyberattack by the hacker gang known as Akira. The Northamptonshire-based firm, operating 500 lorries under the brand “Knights of Old,” had its internal systems crippled after hackers reportedly guessed an employee\u2019s password and gained unauthorized access. Once inside, the attackers encrypted all company data, effectively locking out staff and halting operations. Despite KNP\u2019s IT systems being compliant with industry standards, the breach proved fatal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"158-Year<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware Crisis: UK Businesses Crippled as Cyberattacks Surge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the breach, the hackers left a ransom note stating the company\u2019s internal infrastructure was \u201cfully or partially dead\u201d<\/a> and urged a \u201cconstructive dialogue\u201d rather than emotional responses. While the exact ransom demand wasn\u2019t disclosed, cybersecurity experts estimate it to be around \u00a35 million. Unable to meet the demand, KNP suffered complete data loss, ultimately leading to the closure of the business and the loss of 700 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This incident highlights a growing trend in cyberattacks targeting major companies. In recent months, well-known British retailers like Marks & Spencer (M&S), Co-op, and Harrods have also been affected. In May, M&S experienced a cyberattack that significantly disrupted its online services, causing estimated losses of \u00a3300 million ($404 million). The attack compromised customer data and forced M&S to pause online shopping operations across its Fashion, Home, and Beauty divisions. While physical stores remained operational, the retailer warned that online disruptions could continue into July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rising Cyber Threats Expose Gaps in Enterprise Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These attacks emphasize the increasing vulnerability of even long-established and digitally compliant businesses to cybercrime. With ransomware groups demanding multimillion-pound payments and targeting both logistics and retail giants, cybersecurity is now a critical area of focus for enterprises across the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cyberattack by hacker group Akira forced 158-year-old UK firm KNP Logistics to shut down, leaving 700 jobless. Hackers encrypted its systems and demanded a \u00a35 million ransom. This highlights rising cyber threats, with major firms like M&S also hit, exposing vulnerabilities even in digitally compliant businesses across the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 158-year-old UK transport company, KNP Logistics, was forced to shut down after falling victim to a devastating cyberattack by the hacker gang known as Akira. The Northamptonshire-based firm, operating 500 lorries under the brand “Knights of Old,” had its internal systems crippled after hackers reportedly guessed an employee\u2019s password and gained unauthorized access. Once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":1298223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1195,8364,8363],"class_list":["post-1298128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-hacking","tag-password-mistake","tag-uk-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 158-year-old UK transport company, KNP Logistics, was forced to shut down after falling victim to a devastating cyberattack by the hacker gang known as Akira. The Northamptonshire-based firm, operating 500 lorries under the brand “Knights of Old,” had its internal systems crippled after hackers reportedly guessed an employee\u2019s password and gained unauthorized access. Once […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-27T04:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-27T04:45:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rohit Kulkarni\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rohit Kulkarni\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/\",\"name\":\"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-27T04:45:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-27T04:45:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/4486219a5d31e657b529e6e874cead8b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups\",\"description\":\"Trak.in is a popular Indian Business, Technology, Mobile & Startup blog featuring trending News, views and analytical take on Technology, Business, Finance, Telecom, Mobile, startups & Social Media Space\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/4486219a5d31e657b529e6e874cead8b\",\"name\":\"Rohit Kulkarni\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52ba60e3a61a3517cad7b5dd6bce76c6e7a4d8b337f4240839e8737c4ab8b1bb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52ba60e3a61a3517cad7b5dd6bce76c6e7a4d8b337f4240839e8737c4ab8b1bb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rohit Kulkarni\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/author\/rohit-kulkarni\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","og_description":"A 158-year-old UK transport company, KNP Logistics, was forced to shut down after falling victim to a devastating cyberattack by the hacker gang known as Akira. The Northamptonshire-based firm, operating 500 lorries under the brand “Knights of Old,” had its internal systems crippled after hackers reportedly guessed an employee\u2019s password and gained unauthorized access. Once […]","og_url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/","og_site_name":"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","article_published_time":"2025-07-27T04:45:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-27T04:45:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rohit Kulkarni","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rohit Kulkarni","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/","name":"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-07-27T04:45:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-27T04:45:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/4486219a5d31e657b529e6e874cead8b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/158-year-old-business-shuts-down-due-to-one-password-mistake-700-employees-jobless\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"158-Year Old Business Shuts Down Due To One Password Mistake: 700 Employees Jobless"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/","name":"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile & Startups","description":"Trak.in is a popular Indian Business, Technology, Mobile & Startup blog featuring trending News, views and analytical take on Technology, Business, Finance, Telecom, Mobile, startups & Social Media Space","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/4486219a5d31e657b529e6e874cead8b","name":"Rohit Kulkarni","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52ba60e3a61a3517cad7b5dd6bce76c6e7a4d8b337f4240839e8737c4ab8b1bb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52ba60e3a61a3517cad7b5dd6bce76c6e7a4d8b337f4240839e8737c4ab8b1bb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rohit Kulkarni"},"url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/author\/rohit-kulkarni\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-design-11-2-1280x720-1-1024x576-1-1024x576-1280x720-2-1.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1298128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1298224,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1298128\/revisions\/1298224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1298223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1298128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1298128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1298128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}