Ransomware attack affects Swedish alcohol sales

Alcohol sales in Sweden and France have been disrupted by a reported ransomware attack against a logistics company.

Danish-owned Skanlog works with Systembaloget, the government-run distributor that is responsible for the sale of all alcoholic drinks stronger than 3.5% by volume.

The cyberattack was first reported on 22 April with Skanlog telling Swedish news outlets that the attack emanated from North Korea.

According to company CEO Mona Zuko, Skanlog’s entire system was taken down by the hackers. This included a central business system, a Microsoft-based financial system and an inventory system called Dynaman.

The attack meant that Skanlog was unable to distribute alcohol to the two warehouses, in Jordbro and Eskiltuna.

The disruption continued during the week and on 26 April, Systembolaget issued a press release to inform retailers and consumers of the impact of the ransomware attack.

“[The attack] concerns around 15% of the total sales volume, mainly in wine and spirits, and we have hopes that it should be resolved within a few days,” stated Sara Norell Murberger, business manager, assortment & supply.

“As a consequence of the incident, the availability of certain goods may be temporarily affected in stores and in our e-commerce. Systembolaget is working to minimise the effects of the disruption and to ensure a good selection on the shelves, in close cooperation with several beverage suppliers.”

It is not the first time that Sweden has suffered from a ransomware attack this year. In January, IT specialists in Swedish municipality Bjuv were hit with ransomware demands after its systems were taken down.

In February, another municipality was hit. Both attacks were carried out by the Akira group, a consortium of hackers with links to Russia.

The same group also brought down the data centre of Swedish-Finnish cloud provider Tietoevery, a move that affected the government’s human resources system, the online sales of Sweden’s biggest cinema provider and a number of department stores.