Ransomware attack disrupts Dole

Irish agricultural multinational corporation Dole was reported to have some of its production plants across North America to be disrupted by a ransomware attack, reports The Register. Dole disclosed that remediation efforts for the attack, which only had a "limited" impact on operations, are underway, but CNN reported that the attack has prompted a temporary shutdown of North American production plants, as well as the stoppage of food shipments to grocery stores. Moreover, an internal Dole memo sent to grocers on Feb. 10 and posted on Facebook noted that the intrusion has resulted in the shutdown of the agricultural giant's systems across North America. "The Dole attack is the perfect example of how ransomware can put organizations in a pressure cooker. If they are locked out of their systems, they can't fulfill customer orders, they're losing more money every second that the system stays down," said Halcyon CEO Jon Miller.