Co-op cyber attack could be any number of things: Cyber security expert

Some stores are still dealing with problems on their shelves after a cyber attack against Federated Co-operatives Ltd. two weeks ago, but the company hasn’t said much about what’s going on.

Co-op has kept customers updated as bits and pieces like cardlocks come back online, and this week when rumours began circulating about customers’ data being compromised. But the company hasn’t yet explained what exactly happened during the attack.

Dr. Kwasi Boakye-Boateng, research team lead at the Canadian Institute for Cyber Security, said the attack could be any number of things.

“It can range from the classic ransomware to situations where whoever wants to hack just wants to cause damage and will keep causing damage until they’re satisfied,” explained Boakye-Boateng.

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In taking so long to talk about the incident, Boakye-Boateng said Co-op could be trying to make sure the hackers aren’t still in its systems. He said the company could also be trying to close the security loophole that allowed the attack before talking about it publicly.

“It could be that they are making sure that whatever happened doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Co-op is just the latest victim in a string of cyber attacks against prominent businesses, and Boakye-Boateng said hacking tools are easier to get now, and hackers are getting more collaborative in their attacks.

When he recently helped a friend set up a website, Boakye-Boateng there were about 100 attack attempts on it within five minutes.

“The attackers are getting very sophisticated so it makes it very difficult for organizations to keep up in terms of security,” said Boakye-Boateng.

He said companies need to be more proactive in protecting themselves and more collaborative with each other when it comes to preventing attacks.

For individuals aiming to protect their own data, Boakye-Boateng said proper password practices, like difficult-to-guess passwords and using different passwords for each account can help. He also recommended two-factor authentication to keep your own accounts secure.