Hiscox: Real World Cyber Attack

Members of the public watched in astonishment recently as staff at a retailer of the iconic bike manufacturer Brompton arrived to find their store had been ‘hacked’. In its latest cyber initiative, global insurer Hiscox, a specialist in small business and cyber insurance, collaborated with Brompton Bicycle to stage a ‘real world’ hack – simulating the effects of a cyber attack by constructing a complete clone of their east-London store overnight, hiring look-a-like staff and even stocking the shelves with counterfeit merchandise. Agency: AMV BBDO, London

Reactions of staff and passers-by were captured as the fake store - ‘3rompton’ - opened its doors to the public on the opposite side of the road and subsequently launched a series of cyber attack simulations on the genuine Brompton store in Shoreditch. Common hacking techniques such as ransomware and phishing were brought to life through a series of simulated offline attacks; the real store was boarded up, displaying a ransom note demanding Bitcoin in exchange for re-entry; genuine stock deliveries were diverted to the fake ‘3rompton’ store, highlighting the potential effects of a phishing scam; finally the real Brompton store was flooded with imitation customers overwhelming staff, simulating a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. According to the insurer, one in three UK small businesses have suffered a cyber breach and this simulation is the latest initiative in its cyber awareness campaign, set-up to highlight this risk.