MOOSE JAW — The latest update in the ongoing cybersecurity incident against the Federated Co-operatives Limited has informed the public that all primary systems — including fuel cardlocks and the Co-op’s corporate and regional websites — are now back up and running.
The following is a timeline of the cybersecurity incident as reported by the Federated Co-operatives Limited:
June 27: It was originally announced that the Federated Co-operatives Limited experienced “a cybersecurity incident” that was impacting “some internal and customer facing systems” at both local Co-op retail locations and cardlock fuel stations across western Canada.
Stated as being a precautionary measure, the Co-op shut down “certain systems” and hired “third-party experts” to investigate the attack.
June 29: The Federated Co-operatives Limited issued the following statement:
“In response to questions regarding your data, we have no evidence at this time that consumer data was compromised. If the investigation determines that consumer data was compromised, we will take appropriate action.”
July 3: The Co-op announced that it is prioritizing “key grocery items and consumer goods” for delivery to local Co-op locations to address shortages due to delayed shipments resulting from the incident.
July 4: At this time, Co-op announced that all 398 of its cardlock locations across western Canada are back online and that its team has been working “around the clock to recover our cardlock network…”
July 9: The Federated Co-operatives Limited announced that the incident has been contained, thanks in part to pre-emptively shutting down numerous systems. The Co-op then issued this statement:
“We are aware of statements made online that data was allegedly copied from the FCL IT environment and will allegedly be released. While it’s possible these allegations are related to the cybersecurity incident we previously experienced, we are still investigating with assistance from third-party experts.
“If the investigation determines that data was in fact compromised, as previously stated, we will take appropriate action.”
As of yet, there has been no evidence of such a data leak reported by the Federated Co-operatives Limited.
July 17: The Federated Co-operatives Limited stated that its corporate website is back online after being knocked out since June 27.
“We are pleased to announce that our corporate website, fcl.crs, and all local Co-op websites are back online,” the statement read.
July 19: In the latest statement issued by the Federated Co-operatives Limited, the organization announced that its primary systems have now been fully restored.
“We are pleased to announce that our internal grocery operations, inventory, and delivery systems have been fully restored,” the statement read.
“With our grocery systems fully restored, we want to assure you our priority is expediting grocery supply to local Co-ops. As always, we want to thank Co-op members and customers for their patience and understanding during this time.”
Despite the reported “full restoration” of the Co-op’s major systems following the attack, an investigation remains ongoing to determine who caused the attack, why, and how it was carried out.
The Moose Jaw Express will provide a more in-depth look into the incident once the ongoing investigation has concluded. There has been no estimated time or date for this announcement.
