On the same day that New Zealand moved to Alert Level 1, Lion suffered a cyber-attack which left many bars and pubs unable to order stock.
The liquor giant, which distributes brands such as Steinlager, Bombay Sapphire and Johnnie Walker, is believed to have had its phones, emails and online ordering system compromised by the breach on Tuesday, June 9.
Lion has released a new statement on the issue, stating that the company is still investigating the attack and the impact that it will have on their computer systems.
“There is no evidence to date of any data breaches, but we are still investigating every aspect of this major incident,” says Lion.
“To support our customers and suppliers, we have already introduced a number of manual systems to allow us to take orders and then ship products around our networks.
“We recognise that this is not perfect and it is impacting our customers. We are doing everything possible under the circumstances.”
Lion says the company has teams working around the clock to bring systems back online safely and that the attack could not have come at a worse time.
“Particularly for our valued pub and club customers who are in the very early stages of recovery following the COVID-19 closures,” says Lion.
“They are in the early stages of rebuilding, restocking and reengaging their staff. This has been the most devastating time on record for the hospitality industry in Australia and New Zealand.”
The statement says that throughout the COVID shutdown, Lion was able to continue to brew beer safely and they have a good supply of product for the time being.
“In saying that, this attack has impacted crucial aspects of the brewing process. We operate multiple large-scale breweries, which are heavily reliant on IT infrastructure.”
For more information on Lion, click here.
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