There has been a dramatic increase in ransomware attacks, but it’s not just big businesses that are being affected.
A small bakery in suburban Chicago tells WGN Investigates that business has plummeted since hackers shut down its Instagram account.
“My business was running on Instagram,” says Leila Manoochehry, owner of Leila Love Macarons.
Manoochehry opened the bakery in 2019 in an industrial corridor in the northwest suburb of Park Ridge. She acknowledges that the location was not ideal. But the business has thrived, thanks to the following it has built on social media. On Instagram, his more than 16,000 followers generated 85% of his revenue.
“We had this shop button on my Instagram,” she says. “So we kind of brought people to my website, that’s how they placed their order, whether it was pick up or drop off.”
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But that all changed last month after hackers took over his account. They sent threatening emails, but she didn’t respond.
The next day, his account was gone, along with the business he had helped generate.
“It’s as if we never existed,” she says.
It’s a feeling that a lot of small business owners have these days.
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As cyberattacks involving large corporations make headlines, experts say hackers are increasingly targeting family shops, often demanding costly ransoms.
“I hear that ransomware costs between $5,000 and $100,000 in the small business sector,” says Joanna Mirov, founder and CEO of MXOTech, a Chicago-based cybersecurity company.
Manoochehry says she has reached out to Instagram several times.
But had no luck passing. WGN Investigates also tried, but Instagram also did not immediately respond to our emails.
In the meantime, Manoochehry has opened a new Instagram account but with only 1,000 followers, he doesn’t have the same reach.
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“Maybe in [a few] years, I can find more people,” she says. “But right now, it’s like no one sees me. All the efforts we have made. All gone.”
