Hula Hoops Held Hostage In Cyberattack Snack Raid

Nothing gets in the way of Brits and their crisps, but a group of hackers are threatening access to some of our favourite snacks, by holding the makers of Hula Hoops to ransom in a cyber attack.

KP Snacks - the company behind some of the country's most popular crisp brands - has confirmed it's been targeted in a ransomware attack which could have an impact on the supply of some of its products.

Among the crisp brands that could see their availability on supermarket shelves reduced are Hula Hoops, Tyrell's, McCoy's and Pom-Bear, with other snacks owned by the company including Butterkist Popcorn, Nik Naks and KP Nuts also at risk.

Hula Hoops (Alamy)

Shops were notified of the potential for delays earlier this week in a letter sent by the company, which warned that supply issues could continue until 'the end of March at the earliest,' with the hack meaning it 'cannot safely process orders or dispatch goods.'

In a statement KP Snacks confirmed the hackers had been able to gain access to an unspecified network and were holding data hostage while demanding a payment in order for the company to regain control.

The alarm was first raised about the breach on Friday, with the company confirming 'as soon as we became aware of the incident, we enacted our cybersecurity response plan and engaged a leading forensic information technology firm and legal counsel to assist us in our investigation.'

As a precautionary measure, KP Snacks also confirmed it was limiting orders to retailers to allow it to 'manage what stock we do have.'

A crisp manufacturer might seem like an unusual choice of target for hackers, who are more typically associated with targeting financial companies or public bodies, but incredibly it's not the first time our food suppliers have been hit by a cyber attack.

McCoy's (Alamy)

In December, more than 600 Spar stores in the north of England were affected by a ransomware attack, with several forced to close temporarily while the company resolved the issues.

A month before that, Walkers was also hit by IT problems that caused delays to orders, exacerbating existing issues faced by retailers as a result of ongoing supply chain issues impacting the UK and other countries around the world.

The Guardian reports that the UK is targeted by an average of four cyber attacks each day.

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