Australian Food and Beverage Giant Lion Hit by Cyberattack

The company is still recovering from attack, which disrupted manufacturing and IT systems

www.lionco.com

Australian food and beverages giant Lion was hit this week by a major cyber-attack that disrupted its manufacturing and knocked out its internal IT systems.

On Tuesday the company confirmed the attack, which was first reported on by the Sydney Morning Herald.

"On Monday Lion was a victim of a cyber-attack. We immediately shut down all our systems as a precaution, and we have continued to work with cyber experts to determine how much longer our systems will be impacted. That said, we have made substantial progress over the last 24 hours in terms of diagnosis and recovery planning," Lion said in a statement on its website Wednesday.

"We are working through the impacts. There is no evidence to date of any data breaches, but we are still investigating every aspect of this major incident," they added.

The company said it was "doing everything possible under the circumstances" to bring its systems back online safely, adding that the company operates many facilities which are reliant on IT infrastructure.

"This attack could not have come at a worse time for Lion, particularly for our valued pub and club customers who are in the very early stages of recovery following the COVID-19 closures. They are in the early stages of rebuilding, restocking and reengaging their staff. This has been the most devastating time on record for the hospitality industry in Australia," the statement read.

Lion is one of Australia's largest food and beverage companies,  with brands such as Hahn, James Boag, Dairy Farmers Juice and Yoplait yoghurt, employing nearly 7,000 people across Australia and New Zealand.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the company is currently the subject of a $600 million takeover bid by Chinese dairy giant Mengniu, which is part-owned by Chinese state-owned food processor COFCO.
 

img
Rare-earth elements between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China
The Eastern seas after Afghanistan: the UK and Australia come to the rescue of the United States in a clumsy way
The failure of the great games in Afghanistan from the 19th century to the present day
Russia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The intelligence services organize and investigate