KP Snacks has fallen victim to a ransomware attack that could now spark an ongoing shortage of its popular crisp and nuts brands.
Hula Hoops, McCoy’s, Tyrrells, Butterkist, Skips, Nik Naks and KP Nuts are among the company’s top brands that sit in millions of kitchen cupboards across the country.
However, according to messages sent to local shops and published by industry news outlet Better Retailing, deliveries now face delays and cancellations up until “the end of March at the earliest”.
“At this stage we cannot safely process orders or dispatch goods,” the letter from KP Snacks explained.
The warning message, sent out through grocery wholesaler Nisa, said KP Snacks had no option but to limit the size of orders to retailers so it could “manage what stock we do have”.
Carl Wearn, the Head of Risk and Resilience at Mimecast, said: “This is another example of the real-life consequences that ransomware can have, and they are becoming more common than ever before. Mimecast’s recent State of Ransomware report found that organisations in the UK experienced an average of 3,000 ransomware attacks in the last two years, at a rate of four attacks per day.”
Mimecast research shows that victims saw disruption to their operations (42 percent), significant downtime (36 percent), loss in revenue (28 percent), and a loss of customers (21 percent). It also claims one-third of these victims paid the ransom in full, with the average UK payment totalling £626k.
Wearn added: “It is not advisable to pay the ransom, as the criminals may not release the data or access to the systems. To lessen the risk of falling victim to ransomware, businesses must be prepared. The problem is very complex, and the risk is rising, meaning all organisations need the strongest possible protections in place and a layered approach to cybersecurity. From a people perspective, it is important to educate employees regularly to ensure they follow cyber-hygiene best practices.”
