Ikea email systems bombarded by phishing attacks

Close up of a person touching an email icon.
(Image credit: Geralt / Pixabay)

Ikea is reportedly reeling under an ongoing cyberattack perpetrated through phishing emails sent via compromised Microsoft Exchange servers.

According to BleepingComputer, the homeware giany is alerting its employees of the campaign conducted through the classic reply-all email chain attack.

"There is an ongoing cyber-attack that is targeting Inter Ikea mailboxes. Other Ikea organizations, suppliers, and business partners are compromised by the same attack and are further spreading malicious emails to persons in Inter Ikea," reads the internal email sent to Ikea employees as seen by BleepingComputer.

TechRadar needs you!

We're looking at how our readers use VPNs with streaming sites like Netflix so we can improve our content and offer better advice. This survey won't take more than 60 seconds of your time, and we'd hugely appreciate if you'd share your experiences with us.

>> Click here to start the survey in a new window <<

The email goes on to explain the modalities of the reply-all email attack, noting that phishing emails can come from co-workers, or from a third-party, in the form of a reply to an already ongoing conversation. 

Hijacking internal servers

A recent investigation into the recent SquirrelWaffle malware campaign by cybersecurity experts revealed that attackers have begun using compromised internal email servers that were attacked using a chain of both ProxyLogon and ProxyShell exploits to add legitimacy to the reply-chain email attack.

Researchers at TrendMicro discovered that after compromising the unpatched servers, the attackers hijack internal email chains to add malicious links in legitimate messages.

This makes the attacks difficult to detect, which is something Ikea has also shared with its employees.

Furthermore, while sharing an example of a fraudulent message, Ikea tells its employees that the malicious emails contain links with seven digits at the end. Once spotted the recipients are asked to report the email to Ikea’s IT department immediately.

Shield yourself online with these best identity theft protection services, and ensure your computers are protected with these best endpoint protection tools

Mayank Sharma

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’s TechRadar Pro’s expert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.

Read more
Image depicting hands typing on a keyboard, with phishing hooks holding files, passwords and credit cards.
Microsoft warns about a new phishing campaign impersonating Booking.com
Shutterstock.com / kanlaya wanon
Microsoft Teams abused in Russian email bombing ransomware campaign
Best email services: image of email with one unread message alert
Over 400 million unwanted and malicious emails were received by businesses in 2024
Illustration of a hooked email hovering over a mobile phone
AWS misconfigurations reportedly used to launch phishing attacks
A fish hook is lying across a computer keyboard, representing a phishing attack on a computer system
Microsoft 365 accounts are under attack from new malware spoofing popular work apps
An American flag flying outside the US Capitol building against a blue sky
US military and defense contractors hit with Infostealer malware
Latest in Security
cybersecurity
Chinese government hackers allegedly spent years undetected in foreign phone networks
Data leak
A major Keenetic router data leak could put a million households at risk
Code Skull
Interpol operation arrests 300 suspects linked to African cybercrime rings
Insecure network with several red platforms connected through glowing data lines and a black hat hacker symbol
Multiple routers hit by new critical severity remote command injection vulnerability, with no fix in sight
Code Skull
This dangerous new ransomware is hitting Windows, ARM, ESXi systems
An abstract image of a lock against a digital background, denoting cybersecurity.
Critical security flaw in Next.js could spell big trouble for JavaScript users
Latest in News
Open AI
OpenAI live stream - could we see a major ChatGPT upgrade?
Apple WWDC 2025 announced
Apple just announced WWDC 2025 starts on June 9, and we'll all be watching the opening event
Hornet swings their weapon in mid air
Hollow Knight: Silksong gets new Steam metadata changes, convincing everyone and their mother that the game is finally releasing this year
OpenAI logo
OpenAI just launched a free ChatGPT bible that will help you master the AI chatbot and Sora
NetSuite EVP Evan Goldberg at SuiteConnect London 2025
"It's our job to deliver constant innovation” - NetSuite head on why it wants to be the operating system for your whole business
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1 launches in early April, adding new monsters and some of the best-looking armor sets I need to add to my collection