


#Restaurant story hack no surveys software#
The multibillion-dollar company - officially known as Dole Plc after a 2021 merger between Dole Food Company and Ireland’s Total Produce - sources produce from dozens of countries around the world.ĭole Plc uses email security software made by Fortinet, a popular California-based firm that contracts with US government agencies and corporations alike. Ransomware encrypts computers, typically so that hackers can demand a payoff. JBS said it paid the hackers $11 million to unlock their systems.ĭole shut down its computer systems soon after the hack began to contain the spread of the ransomware, the source familiar with the incident said. Other high-profile hacks against the food and agriculture sector in the last two years have threatened supply chains and caused distributors to strengthen their cybersecurity.Ī May 2021 ransomware attack by alleged Russian-speaking hackers forced JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, to temporarily close factories in the US, Canada and Australia. The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency and the Department of Agriculture did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment. Goldfield, the Dole spokesperson, declined to answer questions on the incident, including whether a ransom was demanded by the hackers. It was not immediately clear how long the company had to keep production offline. In its statement, Dole said it “moved quickly to contain the threat” after learning of the incident, and “engaged leading third-party cybersecurity experts, who have been working in partnership with Dole’s internal teams to remediate the issue and secure systems.” Customers started asking questions about the bare shelves, Underwood said, prompting the store to post the Dole memo about the cyberattack on its Facebook page. Mary Underwood, an employee at Stewart’s Food Store, in Olney, Texas, more than 100 miles west of Dallas, told CNN on Wednesday that the store had struggled to get Dole salads for several days. “They are upset, but it happens,” Russell told CNN.
#Restaurant story hack no surveys full#
Russell, the produce manager, rattled off the salad kits his store was out of on Tuesday, the most recent full day of inventory, from Dole Chopped Sesame to Dole Butter Bliss. However, two grocery stores in Texas and New Mexico contacted by CNN on Wednesday said they couldn’t stock Dole salad kits on their shelves for days.Ĭlayton Ranch Market, in the small town of Clayton, New Mexico, near the border with Oklahoma and Texas, has been short of salad kits since the beginning of last week, Jeff Russell, assistant manager of the store’s produce section, told CNN by phone on Wednesday.Ī cyberattack on Dole was the cause of the salad shortage, Adam Wolfe, the store’s manager, told CNN, citing the Dole memo, which he said his store received from its wholesale grocery provider, Affiliated Foods Inc., in Texas. “While continuing to investigate the scope of the incident, the impact to Dole operations has been limited.” “The company has notified law enforcement about the incident and are cooperating with their investigation,” Dole’s statement said in part. “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, said in a February 10 memo to retailers.ĭole has four processing plants in the US and employs more than 3,000 people, according to a recent company press release.Īfter CNN published this story on Wednesday afternoon, Dole spokesperson William Goldfield sent CNN a statement confirming that ransomware was the cause of the incident. The previously unreported hack - which a source familiar with the incident said was ransomware - led some grocery shoppers to complain on Facebook in recent days that store shelves were missing Dole-made salad kits. A cyberattack earlier this month forced produce giant Dole to temporarily shut down production plants in North America and halt food shipments to grocery stores, according to a company memo about the incident obtained by CNN.
