A well-known UK snacks company has warned of a possible shortage of crisps and nuts after being hit by a ransomware attack.
KP say popular snacks such as Hula Hoops, Skips, McCoy’s crisps and KP Nuts may disappear from supermarket shelves for around a month in a highly visible consequence of the IT hackers’ actions.
A company spokesperson confirmed to Sky News that KP discovered a ransomware attack on Friday 28 January.
In a letter to retailers, KP warned: “At this stage we cannot safely process orders or dispatch goods.”
A statement released to the media said: “As soon as we became aware of the incident, we enacted our cybersecurity response plan and engaged a leading forensic information technology firm and legal counsel to assist us in our investigation.”
The hackers are threatening to release information stolen from the company’s IT systems in order to extort it into making a payment to decrypt its files and get its business running again.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre warns: “Even if you pay the ransom, there is no guarantee that you will get access to your computer, or your files.”
Britain’s cyber security agency had to tackle a record 777 cyber incidents over the past year. This included a global hacking campaign, blamed on Russia’s foreign intelligence service, which impacted the US government most significantly.
The KP attack is a reminder to all businesses of the need to be on their guard, take precautionary action and back up data repeatedly.
