A cyber attack, confirmed as being ransomware, against the AI-driven supply chain platform Blue Yonder is having a broader impacts on both sides of the pond: Starbucks in the U.S. is said to be affected as as at least two of the big four U.K. retail supermarket chains. Here’s what we know so far.
Blue Yonder Falls Victim To Ransomware—Retailers Feel The Heat
Blue Yonder describes itself as a world leader in digital supply chain transformation with an AI-driven platform that helps with everything from fulfillment to delivery logistics. When a global retail supply chain player gets hit by ransomware you can be sure the ripples will spread across both sides of the pond, and that’s the case with a cyber attack that was confirmed by Blue Yonder as taking place on Nov. 21. “Blue Yonder experienced disruptions to its managed services hosted environment, which was determined to be the result of a ransomware incident,” an official statement said, “Our investigation remains ongoing, but please know that our priority is to ensure a safe and secure recovery. At this point in time, we do not have a timeline for restoration.” The last update to the situation from Blue Yonder was posted on Nov. 24 and stated that the incident response continued to progress but was still unable to confirm a timeline for full-service restoration.
Reuters has reported that Starbucks has been affected by the ransomware attack on Blue Yonder, impacting barista schedule management and payments as a back-end process has been disrupted. A Starbucks spokesperson told Reuters that the incident “is not impacting its customer service, and the company was working to ensure its employees were fully paid for their hours worked with limited disruption or discrepancy.” I have reached out to Starbucks for further information.
Ransomware Clean-Up On The U.K. Aisle
Two of the big four supermarket chains in the U.K., Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, are also reported to have been impacted by the Blue Yonder ransomware attack.
Meanwhile, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson told the same trade publication that it was “in close contact with Blue Yonder and can reassure our customers we have contingencies in place.”
This is a developing story, which I will revisit as more updates about the ongoing impact of, and recovery from, the ransomware attack become available.
