Breach report · Manufacturing
Waterloo Brewing Loses $2 Million Dollars
A business email compromise scam tricked an employee into wiring $2.1 million to fraudsters posing as a creditor; Waterloo Brewing's systems were not breached.
Exploit: Business Email Compromise, Email Breach Company: Waterloo Brewing Company Industry: Food and Beverage Location: Kitchener, ON Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-brewing-cyberattack-1.5367658
A business email compromise (BEC) attack has resulted in the Waterloo Brewery Company losing a total of $2.1 million in fraudulent wire transfers. Although the brewery believes that their system was not breached and no personal data is at risk, the financial toll was immensely heavy. Fraudsters impersonating a creditor tricked an employee into responding to emails requesting wire transfers. The emails were said to look genuine and even had company invoices attached. Remediation has begun and the brewery has taken appropriate steps to notify the proper authorities. While initiating new protocols and internal systems, Waterloo Brewery Company is now trying to recover the lost funds, however there is no guarantee and the attempt could be in vain.
BEC and other social engineering tactics are being more frequently used by cyber criminals as they imitate a trusted source to interact with and manipulate their victim into giving them network access to; steal confidential information, deploy ransomware, and financially defraud organizations and customers. With cyber criminal activity rising, it is crucial for organizations of all sizes to remain vigilant and follow policies and best practices when communicating with external & third party organizations, and handling urgent/unusual internal requests for payment via email.