Americold, the largest cold storage operator in United States, has admitted in its SEC filing that it became a victim of ransomware attack on November 16th,2020 and is trying its best recover from the incident by this weekend.
The Atlanta based company that operates around 183 temperature controls warehouses across the world has admitted that the attack has hit its supply chain because of which certain companies might see a slowdown in their food processing and distribution operations to retailers rendering services in countries like New Zealand, Argentina, Canada, and Australia.
As email services, phone, order fulfillment and inventory schedule have been badly hit, Americold is busy informing its clients about the impact of the cyber incident.
The law enforcement, Cybersecurity experts and legal counsel have been notified by the cold storage firm about the suspected ransomware attack and all measures to contain the spread of the file encrypting malware have been implemented.
Note 1- A ransomware is a kind of malware that infects a company database and locks down access until a ransom is paid. But sometimes, some ransomware spreading gangs are indulging in tactics where they first steal a portion of data and then lock down the database. And if the victim denies paying a ransom, then the hackers sell that data on dark web to quench their monetary needs.
Note 2- Americold got its name as such after many mergers and acquisitions since 1907. It offers over 1 billion cubic feet of cold storage services through blast freezing technique.
