Ransomware Attack Cripples the Auctioneer Chant

UPDATE! HiBid is BACK UP & RUNNING!

BID on Our Military Surplus Auction HERE

Ransomware Attack Cripples the Auctioneer Chant with a silence heard across the nation. A silence from the auction block leaving many in the grips of mixed emotions.

Where Have the Auctions Gone?

It all began in the early morning hours of a Friday. Some were excited about the auctions which had recently closed in the wee hours of the night before. While others were checking inventory and or bids of auctions scheduled. Yet, some auctioneers, auction houses and bidders were met instead with a mysterious error message. One many have not seen before. Leaving all to wonder where have the auctions, of which HiBid and Sandhills Publishing are owners and operators, gone?

Instantly emails were being sent and phone calls were being made. “It began early for us,” explains Myers Jackson, CEO of Myers Jackson Co based in north Texas and licensed Texas Auctioneer TDLR 17057. “Our team became aware of the issue before our bidders did and was immediately on the ball to get answers for us and our bidders,” he continues. “However, those answers were not available as we, and many other auctioneers, soon discovered that neither emails nor phone calls were going through.”

In fact, what Jackson, who has been an auction professional for over 2 decades, and his team were discovering is that one of their auction platforms, HiBid, was experiencing some problems. Yet no one from HiBid nor Sandhills Publishing was providing any information as to the nature of the problems. Nor an estimated time in which the system would return to normal.

Although Jackson and his team chose patience in waiting for feedback from the platform, other auction houses were unable to. “On the one hand we are fortunate that we did not have an auction closing Thursday evening, Friday, or during the weekend,” Jackson said.

Questions with No Answers

However, other auction houses were not as fortunate. Many across the nation had auctions close during the late night hours. Bidders were emailing, calling, and lining up to collect the items they had won in the auctions. The problem? The auction houses had no way of seeing who bid, who won, invoices or receipts. And as the lines grew longer and the bidders grew angrier, frustration began setting in for the auction houses still getting no response at all from the platform.

While his team had no auctions closing at the time, Jackson says, “we have a military surplus auction scheduled to close on the 7th. People from all over have been bidding on it already. When HiBid went down our bidders were unable to find the auction to check on or place bids.”

And this is what other auction houses with auctions owned and operated by HiBid and Sandhills Publishing were experiencing as well. “Bidders began calling and emailing us with questions we just didn’t have answers to.” Indeed bidders were just not aware that these auction houses needed the same answers they were looking for.

Cyber Attack Through Ransomware

Then, an answer came early Saturday afternoon. A cyberattack had the platform in its crippling grasp. They were unable to give a time frame for resolve nor any more answers. And although the gavels and chants were silenced for the weekend, the phone calls and email alerts were not.

When asked what Jackson and his team want their bidders to know, he answered, “What we and all auction houses affected want our bidders to know is that this is an issue that is entirely out of our hands. We have limited answers as we have been given limited answers. Our customers’ satisfaction is paramount to us. Therefore, as soon as more answers and/or a resolve is presented we will let our bidders know. In the meantime, patience and understanding is asked of everyone from the auction houses to the bidders.” Great advice from America’s Auctioneer.

Looking to the Future

What will we be doing in the future?..

Continue to implement live auction scenarios where absentee bids may be used from the online system and implementing those bids back into a live atmosphere. In this scenario at least the online bidders still may benefit from the actual sale of each item. However it is important to know that any online bidders should use their max bid feature in order to protect their interest.
Utilizing multiple bidding platforms. This will protect the integrity of the sale. All bidders should be aware that bids (offers from other platforms) including but not limited to live offers, text offers, offers by email or another electronic form may be used and placed into each system. This will take an administrative effort from the auction company. In fact, auctioneers have commonly used these same measures to ensure the bid (offer) of every individual is accounted for.

Indeed, Auctioneer’s for decades have used written offers, telephone bids and absentee written bids in the past. Truly this is still common practice. Now, if a person sees in the number of bids, or the bid transcription provided in the online software, a constant number or “floor” bid, this more than likely is an administrative number utilized by the auctioneer in order to account for and measure bids across all platforms. This is a best practice measure that has been used in many circumstances. Furthermore, the goal of the auctioneer is to serve the public and sell a product offered by the seller. As disclosed in our terms and conditions, we will continue to provide these valuable services.

Continue checking back for updates as we receive them.

Ransomware Attack Cripples the Auctioneer Chant