By Heather Sheppard.
It’s 3 AM. The server logs flicker. Your firewall hisses. All is not well. Somewhere in the digital shadows, a hacker is creeping, sniffing around, preparing to strike.
Welcome to cybersecurity’s cybersecurity horror stories – a haunted house, where the monsters gouge out your data with vicious keystrokes.
This Halloween, to chill your bones and freeze your blood, we have three horror stories from the scary history of cybersecurity – plus lessons that you should take on board if you don’t want to end up like the victims in these terrible tales…
1. The Helpdesk Horror: When the monsters look just like us
You know how it goes. You’ve just found the ideal pair of jeans. They fit you perfectly, don’t restrict your movement, and even make your bum look passable at a glance. You eagerly head online to order three more pairs before the brand stops making them – and find that online ordering has been shut down due to a once-in-a-lifetime hack attack that’s brought half of UK retail to its knees. You know, that old chestnut.
This is what happened to our writer in April 2025. And, while Copywriting Heather’s inability to order jeans is the real tragedy here, we should probably go into the gory details of the hack itself.
M&S had fallen victim to a ransomware/data exfiltration attack that disrupted digital operations and forced the company back to pen and paper for many processes. Co-op and Harrods were also affected, which doubled Heather’s nightmare as her local grocery shop is a Co-op, and its shelves very quickly emptied. No jeans and no baked beans for Heather 😭
How did this happen? How did the monster break in and gut these companies so thoroughly?
Well, ultimately it was achieved via a con.
When people think of hackers they tend to picture hooded figures sitting in gloomy rooms, their fingers dancing over keyboards lit only by the glow of code screens. These hackers of the popular imagination operate in the dark, alone, putting their formidable cyber skills to work in a realm of pure digital data.
In fact, the most successful cyber-attacks rely on charisma and people-skills just as much as any offline con. In this case, the hackers (likely from the group Scattered Spider) impersonated internal IT support and tricked staff into handing over access.
Once they’d got hold of credentials and/or password-reset capabilities, these cyber-spooks possessed the network, ripping out data and locking systems with DragonForce ransomware.
Now, every good horror story ends with good ‘winning’, but with a twist. This sorry tale is no different. While the affected companies did eventually regain control of their systems, it took months to achieve, and cost M&S an estimated £300 million. And that’s just the immediate monetary hit. The attack has left deep scars on the reputations of M&S and Co-op.
What’s more, while four arrests were eventually made in connection with the attacks, the organisation behind it all remains mysterious to authorities. A sequel could well be in the making…
Lesson from the cyber-crypt:
- Enforce strict identity verification for any security processes (e.g. call-backs, multi-factor challenge questions).
- Limit and isolate your helpdesk / vendor access.
- Treat social engineering like a monster: simulate attacks, train staff, and lock down processes.
2. The Ghost in the Machine: Dormant backdoors and supply-chain phantoms
The scariest horror movies are the ones where you can’t see the monster. You just see their effects – lights snapping off, furniture moving, noises in the darkness and swift shadows coiling in the corners of your vision.
Many cyber-phantoms lurk unseen in the dark corners of your network before awakening to unleash horrors. A vendor or third-party tool creeps in stealthily. It establishes a backdoor, and it waits, poised, in the shadows of your system.
Then, years later, when your defences are tired or neglected, the ghost strikes.
In 2024, thousands of UK organisations, from the BBC to British Airways, fell victim to the MOVEit Transfer breach. The file-transfer software they’d trusted for years turned out to be harbouring dark forces. The Cl0p gang quietly slipped in via MOVEit, and stole vast amounts of personal and financial data. And they did it all without tripping a single alarm.
No phishing. No brute force. Just one well-placed zero-day vulnerability. It was the cybersecurity equivalent of being attacked by ghosts within your own haunted bed.
The phantom doesn’t need to break in when it’s already living in your walls. You can have perfect internal defences, but if one of your trusted vendors is compromised, you’re next in line.
Lesson from the cyber-crypt:
- Audit your supply chain. Every piece of software you install is an invitation. Make sure that invitation isn’t to a vampire.
- Isolate external access. Treat third parties like nosy neighbours: be polite, but don’t give them the Wi-Fi password.
- Patch religiously. Delaying updates is like ignoring the scratching behind the door: it’s going to end badly.
Two cybersecurity horror stories down, one to go…
3. The Ransomware Revenant: Gloucester City Council battles digital vampires
And finally, let’s visit Gloucester City Council, where the undead rose in the form of ransomware in late 2024.
The attack locked officials out of essential systems (council tax, housing, planning). Ultimately, it drained the council’s digital lifeblood. For weeks, residents couldn’t access basic services, while the IT team fought to exorcise the malware and rebuild infrastructure.
This was no random attack. Local councils have become prime targets for cybercriminals due to outdated systems, sprawling data, and limited budgets for security upgrades. Attackers know it’s like breaking into a creaky old mansion: lots of rooms, few locks, crumbly backdoors, and ‘invitations’ aplenty in the form of access loopholes.
To make matters worse, the attackers behind many council hacks sink their fangs in and drain resources through digital extortion. They threaten to publish sensitive resident information if ransoms aren’t paid and – as fines for that kind of data breach would exceed the ransom demanded – councils often offer up their monetary jugular to the hackers.
Gloucester’s recovery took months and millions and, though operations eventually resumed, the council will bear the scars of that attack for years to come.
Lesson from the cyber-crypt:
- Back up offline. Backups stored on the same network as your production data are just tasty snacks for ransomware.
- Segment critical systems. Don’t let your planning portal chat with payroll.
- Test your recovery plan. “We think it works” is the IT equivalent of “let’s split up and look for clues.”
- Report and learn. A breach is bad, but failing to learn from it is the crappy sequel that nobody wanted.
Closing words from the crypt
This Halloween, remember: the scariest things in your office aren’t the flickering lights or the unexplained cold spots: they’re your old WordPress plugin(s), your unpatched firewall, and your colleague who still clicks ‘enable macros’.
The monsters are real. They’re patient. They’re ravenous for profit. And they love an unlocked account or too-trusting staff.
So light your digital candles, run your updates, train your people, and – for the love of cybersecurity – don’t ignore the scratching in your logs.
Worried about cyber-spooks possessing your website? Fear that your data is vulnerable to vampires? If, after reading these cybersecurity horror stories, you‘re eyeing your network a little warily then we can help, and we don’t bite. Just drop us a line.