Arran Brewery

Arran Brewery is a Scottish brewery headquartered in the United Kingdom. The company’s core activity is the brewing and sale of beer, producing a range of craft ales that are marketed to consumers. It also engages in hiring processes, posting job vacancies to attract staff as part of its regular operational activities. These recruitment efforts are conducted through online job listings that are accessible to applicants locally and internationally.

In September 2018, Arran Brewery fell victim to a ransomware attack that exploited its job vacancy posting. Attackers distributed the listing internationally and sent fake CV attachments containing malicious code to applicants. The malware encrypted the company’s systems and locked staff out of their data, with perpetrators demanding a payment equivalent to £9,600 in bitcoin to restore access. Arran Brewery refused to pay the ransom, resulting in the permanent loss of three months’ worth of sales data from one server. To address the incident, the brewery engaged an IT consultant to eradicate the virus and recover remaining systems. The attack demonstrated how legitimate hiring channels can be weaponized for cybercrime.