Key facts
- Fairlife, a Coca-Cola subsidiary, has resumed most production at four U.S. plants.
- Operations were halted due to a ransomware attack that compromised production-related systems.
- Product quality and safety were not impacted.
- Canadian operations were not affected by the incident.
- An investigation into the full scope and impact of the cyberattack is ongoing.
Coca-Cola announced that Fairlife, its dairy subsidiary, has resumed a majority of production at four of its U.S. facilities. Operations had been temporarily suspended following a ransomware event that led to unauthorized access to parts of Fairlife's systems, including those related to production. The company stated that product quality and safety were not impacted, and Canadian operations remained unaffected. Coca-Cola engaged external cybersecurity experts and notified law enforcement to investigate the full scope and impact of the incident. The distinction between whether the ransomware affected operational technology (OT) on the plant floor or only business IT systems is crucial for determining the recovery timeline and severity of the disruption. Cybersecurity researchers noted that the financial impact could be significant due to lost output and delayed shipments, regardless of the specific systems compromised.