For cybersecurity experts, who see this type of attack enacted on a near-daily basis, the breach was in no way surprising, although the fact that it shocked the architecture industry was.

“Whilst this is a jaw-dropping experience for those involved, it is by no means a one-off. These types of attacks are occurring more and more and it shouldn’t have taken the architecture industry by surprise,” Jake Moore, cybersecurity specialist at ESET, tells Design & Build Review.

“In fact, many hackers don’t even take aim at certain industries, as they send out multiple attempts across multiple sectors to give themselves a better chance of succeeding.”

Architecture firms big and small are being urged to learn from the incident, and review their cybersecurity efforts to ensure they minimise the risk of an attack and are in a position to restore files if they are hit by ransomware.

“It would be an idle invitation to hackers if firms were to complacently think they weren’t open to attack,” says Moore.

“To innocently think anyone won’t be targeted is an oversight, and I recommend all companies learn from all those impacted previously and note their own vulnerabilities”

Notably, this kind of incident can be immensely damaging, not only in cost but in reputation – and what’s worse, it can be very difficult to prevent and respond to.

“The threat of leaking sensitive data can carry a hefty price tag for businesses,” says Andrea Carcano, co-founder and CPO of Nozomi Networks.

“As attackers typically put the victims under time pressure to pay the ransom, organisations don’t always get the opportunity to evaluate the threat and make an informed decision about which actions to take.

“Even when the extent of the damage can be understood, it still takes time to properly evaluate the consequences of a document being leaked.”

Carcano recommends that organisations “put preemptive measures in place to defend against these kinds of threat”, including training employees “on the evolving threat of phishing campaigns” – something that Moore agrees with.

“Ransomware is a problematic attack to mitigate with security tools alone as there is so much human involvement. Due to this, training the workforce is vital and must not be overlooked,” he says.

However, Carcano also advises that employees “report any suspicious activity to the security team as quickly as possible” and that companies “ensure all devices and services are up-to-date”.

Perhaps most important, however, is ensuring your systems can be restored if the worst happens.

“Implement a proper backup policy to ensure updates are made regularly and impacted data can be accessed in a timely manner.”