Cyber-attack on Ikea

Swedish furniture giant Ikea has been the victim of a cyber-attack, with hackers using internal phishing emails. No customer data was captured.

“Internal” attack

According to DataNews, the attack was a so-called reply-chain email attack, a relatively new technique. “Employees receive emails that come as a reply to apparently previously sent emails. Because the employee thinks it is a reply to a previously sent e-mail, he or she is more likely to open it,” explains Erik Westhovens of Insight.

The mails are sent from internal Microsoft Exchange servers, which makes them much more credible for employees. “Many phishing attacks via external senders or via forged domain names have been stopped. That is why the attackers are now using internal email addresses or from trusted partners,” says Stefan van der Wal from Barracuda Benelux.

No customer data captured

Ikea itself has already confirmed the cyber-attack. Spokeswoman Sabine Kaars Sijpesteijn stated that she was aware of the “phishing attack on parts of Ikea”. The retail chain immediately took measures to prevent damage and an investigation has been launched to solve the problem, she added. No customer data was reportedly captured.

Ikea is the second major retailer in a short time to be hit by hackers. Earlier this month, MediaMarkt was also the victim of a large-scale ransomware attack. The criminals then demanded 50 million dollars (around 43 million euros) in bitcoin.