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United Natural Foods (UNFI), a major grocery distributor serving over 30,000 stores across North America including Whole Foods Market, is grappling with disruptions to customer orders following a recent cyberattack. The company, which acts as the "primary distributor" for Whole Foods, detected unauthorized activity on its IT systems on June 5th. In response, UNFI initiated its incident response plan, proactively taking certain systems offline to contain the breach. The incident has already caused temporary disruptions to business operations, and the company anticipates these disruptions will continue as they work to restore their systems.

UNFI has engaged third-party cybersecurity professionals and notified law enforcement as part of its efforts to assess, mitigate, and remediate the incident. The company is implementing workarounds to continue servicing customers where possible. Kristen Jimenez, a UNFI spokesperson, declined to comment on the nature of the cyberattack or whether any ransom demands have been made. UNFI is one of the largest grocery distributors in North America, supplying fresh produce, goods, and food products to a vast network of retailers, including major chains like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. In their most recent financial report they declared $8.2 billion in net sales.

This cyberattack on UNFI highlights the increasing vulnerability of the food supply chain to malicious actors. The incident follows a series of recent cyberattacks affecting the wider retail and grocery sector. UNFI did not say when it expects to recover its systems but assured customers, suppliers and associates that it was working to minimize disruption as much as possible. The company's agreement to be the primary distributor for Whole Foods, has been extended to May 2032.

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References :

• Zack Whittaker: New: United Natural Foods (UNFI), a major grocery distributor to stores across North America and the "primary distributor" to Whole Foods, was hit by a cyberattack and is warning of ongoing disruption to customer orders. A UNFI spox. wouldn't say if the company has received any demands from the hacker.
• techcrunch.com: UNFI, a grocery distributor for Whole Foods and others, warned of disruptions to customer orders after a cyberattack.
• cyberinsider.com: United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) disclosed that it had detected unauthorized activity on its IT systems, prompting the company to initiate its incident response plan and take systems offline.
• The Register - Security: Let them eat junk food: Major organic supplier to Whole Foods, Walmart, hit by cyberattack
• www.cybersecuritydive.com: UNFI, a grocery retailer and wholesaler, is working to resume full operations following “unauthorized activity†involving its IT systems.
• go.theregister.com: North American grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods told regulators that a cyber incident temporarily disrupted operations, including its ability to fulfill customer orders.
• techcrunch.com: New: United Natural Foods (UNFI), a major grocery distributor to stores across North America and the "primary distributor" to Whole Foods, was hit by a cyberattack and is warning of ongoing disruption to customer orders.
• Threats | CyberScoop: United Natural Foods, distributor for Whole Foods Market, hit by cyberattack
• CyberInsider: United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) disclosed that it had detected unauthorized activity on its IT systems, prompting the company to initiate its incident response plan and take systems offline.
• Catalin Cimpanu: A cyberattack is disrupting the operations of United Natural Foods, a distributor of grocery products in the US. United Natural Foods is the largest grocery carrier and the 14th largest logistics company in the US.
• cyberscoop.com: United Natural Foods, distributor for Whole Foods Market, hit by cyberattack
• www.ttnews.com: UNFI hit by cyberattack, orders may be disrupted
• Techzine Global: Cyber incident disrupted food wholesalers’ operations
• The Register: GeekNews.chat post about major organic supplier to Whole Foods, Walmart, hit by cyberattack
• techcrunch.com: United Natural Foods said it is "diligently managing through the cyber incident" that sparked disruption outages.
• www.techradar.com: Key Whole Foods supplier hit by major cyberattack - delays possibly on the way
• BleepingComputer: Grocery wholesale giant United Natural Foods hit by cyberattack
• SecureWorld News: Whole Foods Supplier United Natural Foods Hit in Cyber Attack
• cyberscoop.com: United Natural Foods fulfilling orders on ‘limited basis’ in wake of cyberattack
• The Dysruption Hub: NFI's cyberattack disrupts deliveries to 30,000+ stores, including Whole Foods. Stock drops 8% amid fears of ransomware and food shortages.
• industrialcyber.co: Grocery wholesaler UNFI faces operational disruptions after cyberattack
• Zack Whittaker: US grocery distribution giant United Natural Foods (UNFI) said it's working to bring its systems online after a cyberattack.
• Tech Monitor: UNFI, a grocery wholesale distributor in North America, experienced a cyberattack that necessitated the shutdown of some specific systems.
• Threats | CyberScoop: United Natural Foods fulfilling orders on ‘limited basis’ in wake of cyberattack
• techcrunch.com: United Natural Foods (UNFI), a major grocery distributor to stores across North America and the primary distributor to Whole Foods, was hit by a cyberattack and is warning of ongoing disruption to customer orders.
• Industrial Cyber: UNFI's systems are affected by the cyberattack.
• www.cybersecuritydive.com: UNFI’s operations remain hobbled following cyberattack
• Metacurity: US grocery distributor United Natural Foods is the latest retail-related cyber victim
• www.itpro.com: Everything we know so far about the United Natural Foods cyber attack
• techcrunch.com: Zack Whittaker's report on TechCrunch about the UNFI cyberattack.
• www.esecurityplanet.com: Cyberattack Disrupts Whole Foods Supplier, Causing Delivery Delays and Empty Shelves
• www.bitdefender.com: The spate of cyber attacks impacting the retail industry continues, with the latest victim being United Natural Foods (UNFI), which supplies organic produce to Whole Foods, Amazon, Target, and Walmart, amongst many others.
• bsky.app: United Natural Foods (UNFI), one of the USA's largest wholesale distributors of healthy and specialty food, has been hit by a cyber attack The supplier of organic produce to Whole Foods, Amazon, Walmart, and others, revealed its breach in a SEC filing
• Graham Cluley: The supplier of organic produce revealed in a SEC filing that after discovering unauthorised network activity it had "activated its incident response plan and implemented containment measures, including proactively taking certain systems offline."
• techxplore.com: With retail cyberattacks on the rise, customers find orders blocked and shelves empty
• Lukasz Olejnik: Cyberattack on food store chain Whole Foods is leaving shelves empty as key distributor scrambles to restore systems. Shoppers and small grocers feel the heat—our food supply chain is fragile. In the digital age, cybersecurity is food security.
• eSecurity Planet: Cyberattack Disrupts Whole Foods Supplier, Causing Delivery Delays and Empty Shelves
• Graham Cluley: The spate of cyber attacks impacting the retail industry continues. The latest victim is UNFI, one of the USA's largest wholesale distributors of healthy and specialty food.
• Vulnerable U: UNFI Cyberattack Halts Deliveries to Whole Foods and 30,000+ Grocery Stores
• www.metacurity.com: US grocery distributor United Natural Foods is the latest retail-related cyber victim
• techcrunch.com: Whole Foods warns of shortages after cyberattack at its primary distributor UNFI
• securityaffairs.com: securityaffairs.com describes the cyberattack on United Natural Foods caused bread shortages and bare shelves.
• ciso2ciso.com: A cyberattack on United Natural Foods caused bread shortages and bare shelves – Source: securityaffairs.com
• ciso2ciso.com: A cyberattack on United Natural Foods caused bread shortages and bare shelves – Source: securityaffairs.com
• The Record: United Natural Foods (UNFI) said in a weekend update that it “made significant progress" toward restoring its ordering systems after a cyberattack affected the company's ability to keep grocery stores stocked.
• Zack Whittaker: NEW: United Natural Foods (UNFI) said it's making "significant progress" in restoring its systems after a cyberattack earlier this month.
• Zack Whittaker: NEW: United Natural Foods (UNFI) said it's making "significant progress" in restoring its systems after a cyberattack earlier this month.
• techcrunch.com: NEW: United Natural Foods (UNFI) said it's making "significant progress" in restoring its systems after a cyberattack earlier this month. The hack left grocery stores and supermarkets across the U.S. and Canada without food supplies and caused shelf shortages, including at Whole Foods and others.

Classification:

• HashTags: #cyberattack #foodsupply #UNFI
• Company: United Natural Foods
• Target: UNFI, Whole Foods
• Product: Grocery Distribution
• Feature: Order fulfillment
• Type: Ransomware
• Severity: Major