North American grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods (UNFI), the primary distributor for Whole Foods Market, has been hit by a cyberattack that temporarily paralyzed U.S. operations. The company is working to restore systems by the weekend. The disruption has already led to reports of empty shelves at some Whole Foods locations due to delayed shipments.

Last Thursday, UNFI revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it "activated its incident response plan and implemented containment measures, including proactively taking certain systems offline," after uncovering unauthorized network activity on its systems. 

"The incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, temporary disruptions to the Company's business operations," the Form 8-K continued, adding, "The Company is working actively to assess, mitigate, and remediate the incident with the assistance of third-party cybersecurity professionals and has notified law enforcement."

Fast forward to Monday, UNFI told customers in an email obtained by Bloomberg that it was "working toward the goal of returning to full operational capacity by Sunday or sooner," while apologizing for the disruption.

What's happened so far (via Bloomberg): 

UNFI CEO Sandy Douglas informed investors during a Tuesday earnings call that intruders had compromised its IT systems, and backend systems related to the supply chain were down. 

"We believe we are managing the incident capably with a very strong team of inside and outside professionals, including specialized experts," Douglas said, adding, "We will continue to keep our customers, suppliers and associates regularly updated on our progress and next steps."

Bloomberg reported that at least one Whole Foods location in Manhattan had partially empty shelves as a result of the disruption.

X users report disruptions...

Tech blog BleepingComputer noted about the increasing cyber threats targeting America's food supply chain:

UNFI is just the latest company in the food industry to have been breached in recent years. For instance, in March, ​Walmart-owned warehouse supermarket chain Sam's Club disclosed it was investigating claims of a Clop ransomware breach. Food giant JBS Foods, the world's largest beef producer, also paid an $11 million ransom in 2021 after a REvil ransomware attack forced it to shut down production at multiple sites worldwide.

The key takeaway: UNFI's cyberattack underscores the fragility of the U.S. just-in-time supply chain and its heavy reliance on vulnerable IT infrastructure. 

Our view—well known to readers—is clear: Take control of your food supply. Whether that means planting a garden, raising chickens, or building direct relationships with local ranchers and farmers, the message is the same: stop relying on globalist multinational corporations.