KP Snacks hit by Conti ransomware gang

Hula Hoop holdups likely as deliveries disrupted

KP Snacks, the UK-based producer of Hula Hoops, KP Nuts, McCoy's and other convenience food brands has been hit by a ransomware attack.

The attack, which the company says it became aware of on 28th January, has led to delays and cancellations of deliveries of products to supermarkets.

The company says disruptions could last a month or two. It says it is keeping employees, customers and suppliers informed of new developments.

According to Bleeping Computer, the Conti ransomware gang has taken responsibility for the attack and claims to have stolen credit card statements, birth certificates, spreadsheets with employee addresses and phone numbers, confidential agreements and other sensitive documents, samples of which it has published online.

Conti has threatened to start leaking information within five days.

It is not known whether the German-owned company, which is headquartered in Slough, is negociating with the gang.

Conti is known for hitting high value targets, sometimes checking if they have cyber insurance and will therfore be more likely to pay. Previous victims include high street chain Fatface, which paid a $2 million ransom, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Health Service Executive in the Republic of Ireland.

To gain access it uses compromised credentials techniques, including attacking Kerberos and checking for saved passwords in admin files.

The group is thought to be based in Russia.

Experts advise companies to take proactive measures to protect against ransomware, including leadership from the top, driving data hygiene measures, patching CVEs as soon as possible, and hardening databases.

Steve Moore, chief security strategist at Exabeam commented: "It's unfortunate to see another organisation become one of the 400 victims and counting to be hit by Conti. Unfortunately, these groups keep getting away with these intrusions because they are experts at compromising credentials."

Neil Jones, cybersecurity evangelist at Egnyte added: "For years, cybercriminals have attacked targets for financial gain, but now we're seeing an alarming pattern of debilitating attacks on our food, critical infrastructure, and IP supply chain, which can have a crippling impact across the economy."