Expert says Co-op cyber attack was likely a ransomware case

Nearly three weeks after a cybersecurity attack at Co-op, there are still plenty of unanswered questions.

Last month, the company announced it was experiencing a cybersecurity incident. The disruption led to empty grocery shelves and left Co-op Cardlocks closed across the country, though the cardlocks were back up and running earlier this month.

Colin Rooke, with Butler Byers Insurance, suggested the attack on Federated Co-operatives Ltd. was likely ransomware.

“The fact that they have been down for so long, it appears they are locked out, and that would be something typical of ransomware,” he said during an appearance on The Evan Bray Show on Monday.

Rooke described how ransomware attacks are typically carried out.

“They would say, ‘We are in, you are out, and if you don’t meet the following demands we are going to permanently corrupt your system. We are going to take the information we have obtained and we are going to sell it to others, or you can pay us and we will let you back in and we will get you back up and running again.’”

Last week, rumours began circulating about customers’ data being compromised, but Co-op still has not explained what exactly happened during the attack.

pic.twitter.com/oLnrCNTin0

— Federated Co-op Ltd. (@CoopFCL) July 9, 2024

“It’s easy to say ‘We hired a new employee and he or she didn’t know what they were doing.’ It’s not that person. It is someone in upper management, someone that can make a mistake that will be detrimental to that business,” Rooke said.

He explained that attacks on businesses like at Co-op are targeted, and can be tailored to imitate internal communications.

“These are individuals that are spending weeks, even months, learning everything they can about you, your system, the person they are after,” said Rooke.

“Then they are going to mimic someone in finance, someone in HR, and it is going to be so close, so accurate, and that is why it is so difficult to  stop.”

Part of the issue, Rooke explained, is how much AI has advanced in recent years.

“We used to tell our clients, ‘If you are asked to do something, you want first-person; you want to hear their voice.’ Now, with AI, you can call a voicemail, AI can grab your voice from that, and you have criminals that can recreate that.”

A request for comment from Co-op on Monday was declined.

“As our investigation is ongoing we will not be conducting interviews at this time,” the company said in an email to 980 CJME.

“All official public statements will be released on FCL social media channels.”