Dole, one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of fresh fruit and vegetables, has announced that it is dealing with a ransomware attack that impacted its operations.
Dole Food Company is in the midst of a Cyber Attack and have subsequently shut down our systems throughout North America,” Emanuel Lazopoulos, senior vice president at Dole’s Fresh Vegetables division, says in a statement to retailers quoted by CNN.
Looking into this cybersecurity incident for Digital Journal is Stephan Chenette, Co-Founder and CTO at AttackIQ.
Chenette places the incident in the context of other security incidences impacting upon the food sector. He notes: “The recent ransomware attack against Dole Food Company is an unfortunate reminder that the target on the food and beverage industry hasn’t gone anywhere.”
Drawing on another example, Chenette says: “Just last December, Sobeys, a major Canadian food retail giant, suffered a ransomware attack that cost the company around $25 million.”
The maritime company that owns Sobeys ended up alerting customers, and employees past and present about a data breach of personal information.
Returning to Dole, Chenette observes: “The aftermath of a ransomware attack against a food supplier this large can be devastating. Grocery stores in North America are already noting a shortage of shipments due to Dole shutting down its North American production plants.”
Chenette considers what other firms operating in similar areas can to do prevent similar attacks. He states: “To prevent similar attacks in the future, organizations must study the common tactics, techniques, and procedures used by common threat actors, which will help them build more resilient security detection, prevention, and response programs mapped precisely to those known behaviors.”
As a second recommendation, Chenette turns his attention to robotic processes, recommending: “Organizations should use automated solutions that safely validate their defensive controls against ransomware campaigns and their techniques to better prepare for the next threat.”
