VFEmail (Email provider) 

The Catastrophe 

In Feb 2019, an intruder wiped primary and backup data across U.S. servers; the founder said VFEmail was “effectively gone,” fearing 18 years of data were lost. Krebs on SecurityBleepingComputerWe Live Security 

Fallout 

Service collapse; customers’ historical email largely unrecoverable; partial, older backup in the Netherlands was found but far from a full restore. Digital Watch Observatory 

Security Layer Failures Analysis 

• ❌ Layer 1: People — Admin/process gaps around privileged activity detection.

• ❌ Layer 2: Physical — Inadequate segregation across data centers/backups. 

• ❌ Layer 3: Cyber — No effective anomaly detection to stop mass disk formatting; backup systems reachable. 

• ❌ Layer 4: Risk Management — No scenario planning for destructive, no-ransom attacks. 

• ❌ Layer 5: Leadership — Under-resourced governance of backup architecture & access. 

• ❌ Layer 6: Culture — Backups not treated as sacred/immutable operational assets.

• ❌ Layer 7: Resilience — Lack of immutable/offsite backups and rehearsed restoration paths. 

ROI of Prevention 

Immutable/offsite backups, SOC monitoring for destructive behavior, cross-site segregation, and CISO-led recovery objectives could have preserved continuity and customer trust. Krebs on Security