Blue Yonder Ransomware Attack Disrupts UK Supply Chains
A ransomware attack on Blue Yonder, a key provider of supply chain software, has disrupted operations at several major UK supermarkets, affecting the flow of goods to stores ahead of the weekend. Blue Yonder, known for its advanced demand forecasting, replenishment, and warehouse management solutions, confirmed the cyberattack was impacting its private cloud.
The company stated that a Blue Yonder task force is investigating and addressing this issue alongside external cybersecurity firms. We have notified our private cloud customers and will continue to communicate as appropriate.”
Blue Yonder (formerly JDA Software) offers a comprehensive suite of supply chain management, planning, and execution solutions powered by AI and machine learning. Their software enables businesses to optimize end-to-end supply chain operations, including demand planning, inventory management, warehouse management, and transportation management. Blue Yonder’s solutions integrate real-time data to enhance visibility and decision-making across the supply chain. They also offer dynamic pricing and merchandising solutions for retail. With its cloud-based Luminate platform, Blue Yonder supports digital supply chain transformation by providing predictive analytics, enabling automated workflows, and improving collaboration between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to ensure resilience, agility, and efficiency.
Supermarket Impact
Among the affected retailers are Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, both of which rely on Blue Yonder for critical supply chain functions.
Morrisons has reverted to manual backup systems to manage fresh produce and chilled foods, but disruptions have already occurred. Suppliers report cancellations of chilled and ambient orders, with Morrisons warning wholesale and convenience customers of potential availability drops to as low as 60% on some lines.
Sainsbury’s, which recently implemented a new supply chain transformation program powered by Blue Yonder, reassured customers it had “contingencies in place” to minimize disruption.
Other Blue Yonder customers include Asda, Waitrose, Tesco, and prominent FMCG suppliers such as ABInBev, Carlsberg, and Kimberly-Clark. Asda and Waitrose reported no current impact, while Tesco declined to comment.
Broader Implications
The attack highlights the risks associated with reliance on third-party software providers for critical supply chain operations. With major supermarkets and suppliers relying on Blue Yonder’s technology for demand forecasting and automated ordering, the disruption underscores the importance of robust cybersecurity and contingency planning in mitigating such incidents.
Blue Yonder has pledged to resolve the issue swiftly, but the ongoing outage raises questions about the resilience of supply chain networks during peak demand periods.
Original Story at thgrocer.co.uk >
Cybersecurity Incident Update (from BlueYonder)
On November 21, 2024, Blue Yonder experienced disruptions to its managed services hosted environment, which was determined to be the result of a ransomware incident.
Since learning of the incident, the Blue Yonder team has been working diligently together with external cybersecurity firms to make progress in their recovery process. We have implemented several defensive and forensic protocols.
With respect to the Blue Yonder Azure public cloud environment, we are actively monitoring and currently do not see any suspicious activity.
The experts along with the Blue Yonder team are working on multiple recovery strategies and the investigation is ongoing. At this point in time, we do not have a timeline for restoration.
Last Updated: November 22, 2024 5:00pm (UTC) >
