Major US grocery distributor warns of disruption after cyberattack

United Pure Meals (UNFI), a serious distributor of groceries to Complete Meals and different retailers, mentioned on Monday that it was hit by a cyberattack, warning of disruptions to its capacity to satisfy and distribute buyer orders. 

UNFI mentioned in a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Change Fee that it grew to become conscious of unauthorized entry to its IT methods final Thursday, and commenced shutting down parts of its community. The submitting added that the corporate has “applied workarounds for sure operations with a view to proceed servicing its prospects the place potential,” however famous that the intrusion has brought about ongoing disruptions to its enterprise operations.

The Windfall, Rhode Island-based firm is likely one of the largest grocery distributors in North America, promoting recent produce, items, and meals merchandise to greater than 30,000 shops and grocery store places throughout the U.S. and Canada.

UNFI additionally serves as the “primary distributor” to Whole Foods, the Amazon-owned grocery chain. Final yr, the 2 firms prolonged their long-running contract till Could 2032. 

When reached by TechCrunch, UNFI spokesperson Kristen Jimenez wouldn’t describe the character of the cyberattack or say if the intruder had demanded a ransom from the corporate.

“We’re assessing the unauthorized exercise and dealing to revive our methods to soundly convey them again on-line,” mentioned Jimenez, including that the incident was reported to regulation enforcement.

A spokesperson for Complete Meals didn’t instantly return a request for touch upon Monday. 

The incident at UNFI is the most recent in a string of cyberattacks affecting the broader retail and grocery provide chain in current months. Following the information breaches at U.Okay. retail giants Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, Google warned that hackers had been also targeting U.S. retailers, although it didn’t title the affected firms.

When requested, UNFI didn’t say when it expects to get well its methods.

Have you learnt extra in regards to the cyberattack at UNFI? Are you a company buyer affected by the disruption? You possibly can securely contact this reporter through encrypted message at zackwhittaker.1337 on Sign.