UK car repair shop chain Kwik-Fit has suffered a serious cyber-attack which seems to have put its IT systems out of action for most of the week, angering customers.
A spokesperson told the BBC that the firm first experienced “some issues with a virus in our IT network” last weekend.
“This affected a number of our systems but in the interest of ongoing security we can't confirm the source of the problem,” the statement continued.
"We have been working to get our operational systems back up and running normally and while there is still some disruption, our centers are open as usual."
However, in a Twitter message on Thursday to one of many irate customers, the firm admitted its systems were still down, meaning the individual wasn’t able to access an online MOT booking service.
“Unfortunately we don't have a time for this, but our team are working as hard as they possibly can to get this sorted. Apologies that we can't provide any further information for you,” the message read.
Given the scale of the problem and the delay in getting systems back online, ransomware would be an obvious guess as to what kind of “virus” Kwik-Fit has been subject to.
Darren Williams, CEO and founder of BlackFog, claimed the attack has directly impacted customer trust and the firm’s bottom line, with appointments cancelled and the call center apparently overwhelmed with complaints.
“This will continue to happen as more and more firms around the globe become entirely dependent upon technology to run their business,” he added. “Hackers have become increasingly sophisticated and are attacking organizations from all directions. So, firm’s need a multi-layer defense system.”