Coca-Cola subsidiary hit by ransomware attack
The Coca‑Cola Company has announced that fairlife, a dairy company owned by the drinks manufacturer, has been hit by a ransomware event.
The company said fairlife identified unauthorized access by a third party to a portion of its systems, including its production-related systems.
After detecting the issue, the company promptly activated its incident response and business continuity protocols, it said.
The company’s investigation and assessment of the impact of the incident is ongoing, with the assistance of outside advisors and cybersecurity experts.
Law enforcement agencies have been notified although the full scope, nature and impacts of the incident are not yet known.
Coca‑Cola and fairlife said product quality and safety have not been impacted, however as a result of the incident, production operations have been suspended temporarily.
“One of the most targeted industries”
Commenting on this story is Rebecca Moody, Head of Data Research at Comparitech said: “Manufacturers remain one of the most targeted industries for ransomware attacks because of the sheer amount of disruption the encryption of systems can cause.
“So far this year, we’ve noted 181 attacks on the food and beverage sector and 109 of these have been on manufacturers.
“We don’t yet know which gang is behind this attack on fairlife, but if ransom negotiations fail and/or data has been stolen in the attack, it’s likely we’ll find out in the coming days/weeks.
“Food and beverage manufacturers have been a favorite of The Gentlemen and Qilin this year.
“The Gentlemen was behind the crippling attack on Mackay Sugar in Australia last month.”
