Americold network breach shut down cold storage operations

Americold Realty Trust, one of the world's largest temperature controlled warehousing and logistics companies, disclosed that it began receiving evidence of a cybersecurity incident affecting its computer network on 26 April 2023. The company said it immediately implemented containment measures and took operations offline.

The shutdown disrupted a business running roughly 245 temperature controlled warehouses across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South America. Americold told customers to cancel inbound deliveries beyond the following week and to reschedule all but the most critical outbound shipments, prioritising products nearing expiration. Reporting described closed gates and offline phone systems at affected sites.

Americold said it contained the intrusion and shut down its network to prevent the incident spreading to uncontained areas or to customers. It engaged outside cybersecurity experts and legal counsel, reported the matter to law enforcement and disclosed the incident to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company expected to restore most systems within about a week.

Americold declined to confirm at the time whether ransomware was involved, though its focus on rebuilding affected systems led reporters to treat that as likely. It was the company's second cyber incident in under three years, following a November 2020 attack that hit phone, email, inventory management and order fulfilment systems.

The Cactus ransomware group claimed the attack in July 2023 and leaked stolen files. In December 2023 Americold confirmed that personal data belonging to more than 129,000 employees and dependents had been taken.