Belgian furniture chain WEBA hit by a cyberattack

The Belgian home furnishings chain WEBA, with locations in Ghent, Deinze, Tongeren, and Bergen, has fallen victim to a cyberattack in which hackers gained access to customer data. No passwords were compromised.

Back up and running quickly

Hackers breached WEBA’s IT systems as early as August 10. In the process, they also installed ransomware that partially paralyzed the furniture chain’s daily operations for a limited time. The stores and online shop have been back up and running since August 12. “Together with our IT partners and specialized cybersecurity experts, we have since investigated our IT environment, reinforced its security, and restarted it after thorough testing, ”WEBA told HLN.

The hackers managed to steal customer data, including first and last names, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and information about orders and purchases made in stores or through the online store. According to the company, online store accounts and passwords were not compromised. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Qilin, possibly a Russian-speaking cybercriminal gang.

No ransom paid

“We did not pay a ransom,” says Elias Couvreur of WEBA. “In fact, we never even came into contact with them. Fortunately, they were unable to encrypt all of our systems, which allowed us to restore everything fairly quickly using a backup.” Customers are no longer experiencing any disruptions, though they are advised to be extra vigilant against phishing

Earlier this month, retailers such as De Bijenkorf, Bol, Ace & Tate, and About You also experienced disruptions following a cyberattack on their logistics partner, Ceva Logistics. This led to disruptions in orders and deliveries.