Dairy processor and drink manufacturer Lion has confirmed it has been forced to shut down production after being hit by a cyber attack on Monday.
The company is working to measure the impact of the attack but has admitted it is affecting customers, suppliers and the whole supply chain, according to a statement released on the company website.
"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."
"There is no evidence to date of any data breaches, but we are still investigating every aspect of this major incident."
The company has been forced to adopt manual systems to take orders and ship products across the country.
'Couldn't have come at a worse time'
Lion is the largest beer brewer in Australia with a number of brands including XXXX Gold, Tooheys, Hahn, Boags, and Little Creatures.
The company said the cyberattack would hit pubs and clubs trying to restock as coronavirus restrictions begin to ease.
"This attack has impacted crucial aspects of the brewing process. We operate multiple large-scale breweries, which are heavily 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."
"This has been the most devastating time on record for the hospitality industry."
No impact on milk collections
Lion is one of the top five biggest dairy processors in Australia, with 550 dairy farmers supplying 1 billion litres milk every year to the company.
However, in a statement, the company said the cyber attack would not affect farmers.
"There has been no impact on the collection of milk supply from our dairy farmer partners or fruit from our orange growers."
Earlier this year the wool industry was forced to postpone sales after the Talman software suffered a ransomware attack encrypting the database used to buy and sell wool.
In 2017, Bega Cheese and the Cadbury factory in Hobart were also affected by the so-called 'Petya' global ransomware attack.
