Inside the trials and tribulations of a major ransomware attack

Like many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), ‘JPX Construction’ didn’t see itself as a potential target for a ransomware attack.

It wasn’t a high-profile organisation. It didn’t seem to hold much high-value data. So, when the financial director turned on her PC to find a black screen with a ransomware message, it came as a painful shock.

That’s the premise of a dramatic new film that takes viewers inside the events of a fictionalised ransomware attack based on true events.

Cyber threats remain an acute threat: the UK Government’s 2024 Cyber Security Breaches Survey revealed that 47% of micro-sized businesses and 58% of small businesses had experienced some form of breach or attack in the last 12 months. Meanwhile 19% of micro businesses and 29% of small businesses fell victim to a cybercrime.

Butterfly, a new film by Dark Matter in association with McAfee and Dell Technologies, explores this experience in-depth.

The film centres on an attack on an SMB in the construction industry, following the events from the perspective of three key personnel: the financial director, the external IT consultant and the company’s Managing Director.

In it, Finance Director Georgia soon discovers that it’s not just her PC that’s affected, but PCs across the firm and its servers too.

She calls in the company’s external IT consultant, Noah, in the hope of fixing the problem. But with the system drives and servers encrypted, and all day-to-day business stalled, Noah has no choice but to deal with the attackers directly.

The film makes clear that there are no easy answers, even with the police and cybersecurity experts involved.

The choice of whether to pay or not to pay the ransom is agonizing, with strong arguments on both sides. Is it worth paying up to minimise impact on the business, or do you make yourself a target for repeat attacks?

Organised crime

As Georgia, Noah and MD Stephen weigh their options and negotiate with their attackers, it also becomes clear that they’re not dealing with individual hackers or opportunists, but a structured and well-organised criminal group.

Cyber crime has evolved into a commercial enterprise, and JPX Construction finds itself the unwilling ‘customer’ of a faceless organisation that it cannot trust.

Further complications only increase the ransom demands, and the financial impact grows from tens to hundreds of thousands of pounds, with the ongoing effects – including loss of business and reputational damage – lasting months.

What’s more, this comes with profound physical and emotional effects that might surprise you.

As Georgia notes on screen, the biggest issue raised is that so few SMBs recognise that ransomware could happen to them or implement the basic steps that could ward off an attack.

As the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024 reveals, only 14% of microbusinesses and 30% of small businesses have had cybersecurity training or awareness-raising sessions in the last 12 months.

The belief that you’re not a target is a common misconception, says Jake North, Product Manager for Consumer and Small Business Security at Dell Technologies.

“Small businesses undervalue what they do” he says, “and they are also in a fairly unprotected state, because they don’t have the IT resources to manage it.”

Butterfly contains a wealth of information and insight on what it’s like to be at the sharp end of a ransomware attack.

To view Butterfly: A True Cybercrime Story, sponsored by McAfee and Dell Technologies, click here