British engineering powerhouse Arup has revealed a devastating £25.4 million loss stemming from a sophisticated “deep fake” cyberattack at its Hong Kong operations, casting a shadow over the firm’s otherwise record-breaking sales performance.
The London-headquartered consultancy fell victim to fraudsters who employed artificial intelligence-generated voice recordings, forged signatures, and manipulated images to deceive staff members into transferring funds to multiple unauthorised accounts in January 2024.
Chairman Jerome Frost addressed the breach in the company’s latest annual report, emphasising that despite substantial investments in cyber defence systems, criminals managed to breach their security protocols. The incident has triggered a comprehensive review of internal governance structures and operational processes.
The financial impact of this security breach has contributed to an 8% decline in annual profits, which dropped to £24.4 million from £26.6 million, despite the company achieving record revenues of £2.20 billion.
The ripple effects of this cyber incident, combined with challenging market conditions, forced Arup’s board to make unprecedented changes to its staff bonus scheme. The firm’s 18,000 employees received only one bonus payment instead of the customary bi-annual distributions, resulting in a dramatic reduction in profit-share payments from £133.2 million to £27.3 million.
The iconic engineering firm, renowned for its work on prestigious projects including London’s Shard and the Sydney Opera House, maintains that its project delivery capabilities remained unaffected throughout the cyber incident, though the financial implications have clearly left their mark on the company’s bottom line.
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