Ferrara Candy, which has created popular candies such as Nerds, Laffy Taffy, Now and Laters, SweetTarts, Jaw Busters, Nips, Runts and Gobstoppers, announced that it was hit by a ransomware attack just 2 weeks before Halloween.
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The Illinois-based company said on October 9 that it “ disrupted a ransomware attack ” that encrypted some of its systems.
"Upon discovery, we immediately responded to secure all systems and initiated an investigation into the nature and extent of this incident. Ferrara is working with law enforcement and our technical team is working closely with third-party experts to fully restore the affected systems as quickly and safely as possible," the company said.
«We have resumed production at select facilities and are shipping from all of our distribution centers nationwide. We are also now working to process all of our orders. We want to assure consumers that Ferrara Halloween products are on retailer shelves nationwide in time for the holiday season.»
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Ferrara did not say whether she paid a ransom or which ransomware group attacked her systems. The Chicago Tribune and Crain's Chicago were the first to report the attack.
Danny Lopez, CEO of cybersecurity firm Glasswall, said it was no coincidence that the attackers hit a candy company's supply chain just before Halloween, knowing full well that the urgency and demand at this time of year would increase the likelihood of them receiving the desired payout.
Cerberus Sentinel vice president Chris Clements added that this situation proves that every company should have a plan for the "worst case scenario," such as a ransomware attack.
But even as organizations strengthen their defenses, ransomware actors are changing their methods.
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"In this way, cybercriminals can make service outages and restoration delays as painful as possible for their victim to further coerce them into paying the required ransom rather than attempting to restore systems or data ."
