Dole Food Company was reportedly attacked by ransomware. And with that, fruit shortages could well be on the way.
Dole Food Company Reportedly Attacked By Ransonware
Fans of fruit and vegetables could be forced to tweak and make changes to their diet after one of the biggest companies in the industry has had its operations disturbed by a ransomware attack.
Dole Food Company issued a press release saying that it suffered a ransomware attack that had reportedly impacted its operations.
The company stated that it is at the moment investigating “the scope of the incident”, with the company notifying law enforcement agencies, and a “leading third-party cybersecurity expert” has also been brought in to remediate the problem as well as to help secure the systems of the company.
The Effect of the Attack on the Company
And while the initial assessment of Dole on the incident is that it was “limited”, other sources close to the matter are saying that the attack was disruptive enough to force the company to suspend some of its operations temporarily.
BleepingComputer spotted a Texas grocery store memo leaked on the social media platform Facebook. And in it was said that Dole had to shut down its production plants situated in North America and also suspended shipments.
“Dole Food Company is in the midst of a cyberattack, and [we] have subsequently shut down our systems throughout North America,” it was stated in the memo. “Our plants are shut down for the day, and all shipments are on hold,” the announcement was cited by the media.
Who Are the Threat Actors behind the Attack
Other details in regard to the ransomware attack at this time are not known. We really do not know who the threat actor is, which variant of ransomware was used, or which malware was used in compromising the endpoints of the company. We also do not know exactly when the attack took place. The media however found out, for over a week now, there has been a shortage of prepackaged Dole salads. And it is really difficult to ascertain if these two incidents are connected somehow.
Dole Is Set To Deploy a Manual Backup Program
Dole as per the memo is looking to deploy a “Manual backup program”, which as you should know probably means that it will be switching to manual operations. And at that, while it might keep the business running, will definitely mean a much slower pace for both distribution and production.
