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The Anubis ransomware group claims it attacked Fairlife, Coca-Cola’s dairy brand, and stole about 1TB of data.
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The group reportedly threatened to publish the alleged stolen information if Fairlife failed to meet its demands.
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Coca-Cola has not confirmed Anubis carried out the attack, while the full impact of the incident remains unknown.
The Anubis ransomware group has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Fairlife, a dairy brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company. The group also threatened to release data it allegedly stole from the company. The attackers reportedly listed Fairlife on their dark web leak site on Monday, July 20.
Anubis claimed it breached Fairlife’s systems and took about one terabyte of data. Several reports, including Reuters, said the group threatened to publish the information if Fairlife did not meet its demands.
The claim came shortly after Coca-Cola confirmed that Fairlife suffered a cybersecurity incident. The incident disrupted the company’s U.S. production operations.
Fairlife Production Stops After Cybersecurity Incident
Coca-Cola said on July 16 that a third party gained unauthorized access to parts of its network. The affected systems included technology linked to production, according to the company. The incident forced Fairlife to temporarily stop production at its U.S. facilities.
However, the company’s Canadian operations did not face the same disruption. Ransomware groups are targeting organizations across the globe. Not too long ago, an Australian family law firm recently fell victim to a global ransomware gang that leaked sensitive data. Coca-Cola said it still did not know the full nature, scope, or impact of the incident. The company also said the event did not affect product quality or safety.
The company began working with outside cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies. Those teams are investigating what happened and how the attackers gained access.
Coca-Cola has not confirmed that Anubis carried out the attack. The company also declined to comment on the ransomware group’s claims when media outlets asked about them. According to BleepingComputer, Anubis claimed it attacked Fairlife about one week before the company announced the incident.
The group also claimed it encrypted Fairlife’s Nutanix systems. It is alleged that the company could not restore those systems without a decryption key controlled by the attackers. The group reportedly said it had attacked the company’s systems one week earlier. It also claimed Fairlife announced the incident without following the instructions that attackers allegedly left on its network.
Anubis Claims It Stole About 1TB of Data
The ransomware group reportedly gave Fairlife until the end of the week to meet its demands. It then threatened to publish the data it claimed to have stolen. SecurityWeek and other cybersecurity publications reported that Anubis claimed it locked company servers.
The group also alleged that it removed about one terabyte of confidential information from Fairlife’s systems. However, no independent source has confirmed the claims. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Anubis had not publicly shown proof of its alleged attack. The publication also noted that the group had not provided evidence confirming the amount of data it allegedly stole.
That means the claims about the attack, the stolen data, and the reported ransom demand remain unverified. Coca-Cola has also not confirmed the identity of the attackers. The incident shows how a cyberattack can disrupt companies that rely on connected technology systems.
Fairlife’s production shutdown affected its U.S. manufacturing operations after the cybersecurity incident. Fairlife began in 2012 through a partnership between Coca-Cola and Select Milk Producers.
Mike and Sue McCloskey founded the dairy cooperative in 1994. Coca-Cola later became the full owner of Fairlife in 2020. The brand sells ultra-filtered milk and flavored milk products, including its Yup range. The company also sells protein drinks under the Core Power brand.
Investigation Continues as Attack Claims Remain Unconfirmed
Coca-Cola continues to investigate the incident with help from outside cybersecurity experts and law enforcement. The company has not confirmed that Anubis caused the attack. It has also not confirmed the reported ransom demand or the alleged theft of one terabyte of data.
Anubis has claimed that it breached Fairlife’s systems and took sensitive information. The group has also threatened to publish the alleged data if its demands remain unmet. However, the available information does not independently verify those claims. The group has not publicly provided proof that confirms its role in the incident.
It also remains unclear whether Anubis will release any of the information it claims to have stolen. For now, the full scope and impact of the Fairlife incident remain unknown. Coca-Cola’s investigation will need to establish what happened and whether any company data was actually taken.
The company has confirmed that its U.S. production operations faced a temporary disruption. It has also been said that the incident did not affect the quality or safety of Fairlife products. As the investigation continues, the claims made by Anubis remain unconfirmed. Coca-Cola has yet to publicly identify the attackers or confirm the reported volume of data allegedly stolen from its systems.
