The website and mobile application of the LCBO, the equivalent of the SAQ in Ontario, were out of service for the second day in a row on Wednesday due to an investigation into a “cybersecurity incident”.
Despite this issue, operations were proceeding normally in the various branches of the network, assured the LCBO.
The state-owned company did not release any details about the incident, including whether it fell victim to ransomware, a form of hacking aimed at encrypting an organization’s data to cripple its computer system and demand a ransom. . The LCBO also did not indicate whether any of its customers’ data may have been compromised.
If the “cybersecurity incident” affecting the LCBO turns out to be of malicious origin, the authority would be added to a long list of Canadian organizations that have suffered from a cyberattack in recent months.
Notably, the Toronto Children’s Hospital fell victim to ransomware in December that disrupted its computer systems for about two weeks. A group of cyber hackers called LockBit even apologized for the attack and provided a decryption key to the hospital, which claimed not to have used it.
Earlier in the fall, the giant Empire, which notably owns IGA and Sobeys, and the manufacturer of recreational vehicles BRP also suffered from cyber incidents. In the case of Empire, the company admitted, in its financial results published in December, that its IT problems cost it approximately $25 million.