How SecurityHive Honeypots Helped an HR Specialist Recover from a Major Cyberattack
With more than 500 full-time employees, this HR and staffing agency plays a crucial role in connecting workers with opportunities across multiple industries. In 2023, the company expanded its activities, placing staff in agriculture, production facilities, warehouses, and the cleaning and installation of photovoltaic systems.
The organization is trusted by both clients and jobseekers to handle sensitive personal information—passport details, social security numbers, and other privacy-critical data. Protecting that data is therefore a top priority. “As a staffing agency, we are aware of the responsibility we have,” a company representative explained. “We handle huge volumes of sensitive data, and security must always come first.”
The Investment in Security
Recognizing the risks, the company had already invested in SecurityHive’s honeypots as an added layer of protection. This forward-looking decision proved invaluable when, in July 2021, the company fell victim to a large-scale cyberattack.
The Attack
On the night of July 6–7, 2021, attackers breached the organization’s Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Once inside, they changed system configurations, encrypted files on virtual machines, and even deleted backups.
As the customer recalls:
“We have been victim of a cyberattack on the night of the 6th and 7th of July 2021. These intruders entered our Remote Desktop Protocol and changed all the configurations, encrypted files from our VM’s, and deleted back-ups.”
How SecurityHive Helped
Fortunately, SecurityHive’s honeypots detected the suspicious activity immediately. This early detection allowed the customer’s IT experts to act quickly, contain the intrusion, and limit the damage.
Thanks to their cloud-based unattached backups—part of their recovery plan—the organization was able to restore operations with minimal disruption.
According to the company’s CTO:
“Unattached back-ups in our Cloud environment were part of our recovery plan. This combination minimized the downtime to only 1.5 days.”
The company acknowledges that without SecurityHive, the outcome would have been far worse:
“If we hadn’t SecurityHive’s Honeypots deployed, our downtime would be much longer and our data would be stolen.”
Strengthening the Future
Following the attack, the company further enhanced its resilience by investing in additional backup solutions.
“We’ve invested in another NAS storage system for local backups. So, if this happens again in the future, we will be able to respond faster.”
The Business Benefits
By deploying SecurityHive’s honeypots, the staffing agency was able to detect intruders early, minimize downtime, and protect sensitive data. The investment—made because of their strong security awareness and desire for peace of mind—paid off when it mattered most.
As the company concluded: SecurityHive gave them the confidence that, even in the face of a large-scale cyberattack, their systems, data, and reputation could be safeguarded.
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Company Details
CoC: 73033502 VAT: NL859328211B01
