I by no means imagined {that a} 150-year-old chocolate firm might be dropped at its knees by a number of clicks on a pc. As the top of IT for Ganong Bros. — Canada’s longest-running family-owned sweet producer, established in 1873 — I’ve overseen the whole lot from upgrading our growing older stock techniques to preserving the Wi-Fi buzzing on our manufacturing unit flooring. However nothing ready me for the morning of February 22, 2025, when a ransomware assault abruptly locked our techniques. In that frantic second, amid the aroma of cocoa and boiling sugar, I noticed our candy operation had become a cybersecurity nightmare.
Discovery within the coronary heart of manufacturing
It was a bitterly chilly Saturday in New Brunswick, and our St. Stephen plant was working on restricted shifts, making ready spring orders. I used to be at dwelling once I obtained an early telephone name from a manufacturing supervisor: “One thing’s flawed — the computer systems in packaging froze and there’s an odd message on-screen.” My abdomen dropped. Remotely logging in was unimaginable; our community was unresponsive. I rushed into the ability to search out essential servers encrypted and a ransom be aware blinking on our displays.
We later decided the assault had begun earlier, stealthily spreading via our community. By the point we “found” it on February 22, malicious code had already crippled a number of techniques. Operations floor to a halt — our automated mixing and wrapping machines have been wonderful mechanically, however with out the digital controls and manufacturing schedules, we couldn’t safely proceed manufacturing. Entry to our order database and e-mail was lower off. Right away, our historic chocolate manufacturing unit was knocked again into the nineteenth century.
