United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), a leading distributor of groceries across North America, has disclosed that it recently fell victim to a cyberattack, leading to significant disruptions in its operations.
In a regulatory filing made on Monday, the company revealed that it identified unauthorized access to its IT infrastructure last Thursday. In response, UNFI initiated a partial shutdown of its systems to contain the breach. While it has implemented temporary solutions to continue servicing clients, the attack has still caused ongoing operational challenges.
Based in Providence, Rhode Island, UNFI is one of the continent’s largest grocery suppliers, catering to over 30,000 retail outlets, including major supermarkets across the United States and Canada. The company is also the main distributor for Whole Foods, a prominent American grocery chain owned by Amazon. Their partnership was recently extended until May 2032.
Although UNFI has not shared specific details about the nature of the cyberattack, including whether there was any ransom demand, the company confirmed that it is working closely with law enforcement and is actively assessing the situation while aiming to restore systems securely.
A spokesperson for the distributor stated, “We are evaluating the unauthorized activity and working to bring systems back online safely.”
This incident is part of a growing trend of cyber threats targeting the retail and supply chain sectors globally. Similar attacks in recent months have impacted major retail operations in both the UK and the US, prompting warnings from cybersecurity experts.
As of now, there is no clear timeline for when UNFI’s systems will be fully restored.
Source: Techcrunch
