Bankrupt: how cyber attacks can devastate businesses (part 1)

15th September 2025

With some attacks, there is no coming back.

Most cyber attacks are bad, but not fatal. Hackers may extort some money through ransomware, or leak some user information, but most places are able to find a way through and recover (though often with a weakened public image).

Some attacks can have such a great impact though that business have had to close. Take a look at some of the worst incidents, what happened, how they could have been prevented, and consider: would your business survive a similar attack?

Code Spaces (USA)

Code Spaces was a small cloud-based code hosting service when, in 2014, they were hit by a cyber attack. Hackers managed to access their Amazon Web Services control panel and they launched a DDoS attack, deleting all primary and backup data. With no external backups available, the entire company shut down within approximately 12 hours of the breach.

This shows how important it is to have a separate backup, so if an attack like this does occur, your business can recover. It would have also been useful to have more layers of security to prevent the breach in the first place, like monitoring tools or multi-factor authentication. Furthermore, it shows how at-risk smaller businesses are: SMEs/SMBs often neglect their security due to lack of time or funding – the consequences of not giving it enough attention can be dire.

MediSecure (Australia)

Bringing in an estimated revenue of around $4 million, e-prescription provider MediSecure was breach in 2024. Attackers encrypted healthcare data that impacted 12.9 million Australians – around 50% of Australia’s population – and demanded a ransom for it. MediSecure asked the Australian government for help, but this was denied, leading to the company to enter administration (which often happens before a complete shutdown).

The risk to the healthcare industry is highlighted here: it is important information to us, which means bad actors know they can extort a lot out of the industry. Also, it shows that relying on external sources to support you in the event of an attack isn’t always a reliable method – you need to be able to defend yourself independently if you want the business to survive.

As you can see, some cyber attacks can cause permanent damage to businesses, both of which may have been avoidable with the right cyber security measures. These are just two incidents – we have three more in the second part of our blog: check in again soon to get all the details.

For more information on how to avoid a similar fate , talk to Interfuture Security: before it is too late!

YouTube: https://youtu.be/eb5gNQxgRXE