Austria’s third largest dairy company, SalzburgMilch, is back to normal eight days after a serious cyber attack. The supply of Salzburg milk specialities to customers is ensured again.
As already communicated on several occasions, a massive cyber attack on 22.6.2021 caused extensive damage to the IT infrastructure at SalzburgMilch GmbH. All areas of the company were affected by the system failures. As soon as the attack was noticed, internal and external specialists worked around the clock to repair the damage and restore regular processes. Already on Wednesday (23.6.), it was possible to activate parts of the production, but only in an emergency operation. Produced goods had to be temporarily stored externally. On Friday (25 June), the first deliveries to retailers were possible, also on a makeshift basis.
After days of work, the IT experts have now succeeded in reactivating all systems under their own steam and putting all areas of production, warehouse management and logistics back into operation. “As of today, Thursday 1 July 2021, deliveries to our customers are running automatically again,” says SalzburgMilch authorised signatory Albert Wallner with relief, adding: “Even though this crisis has not yet been overcome, I would like to thank all our employees, the many external experts, logistics companies and all the companies that have supported us unbureaucratically for their unbelievable commitment in overcoming this dramatic situation.
SalzburgMilch Managing Director Andreas Gasteiger also emphasises the high level of solidarity shown to the company: “Of course, our great thanks also go to our trading partners, who have shown enormous flexibility and have been extremely understanding in dealing with this extraordinary situation.” Gasteiger also appealed to the loyal consumers of SalzburgMilch: “We very much regret that as a result of this criminal attack on us, deliveries were interrupted and in some cases the usual range of products could not be found on the shelves. We therefore hope that our milk and cheese products will soon be back in full stock in the shops and that the friends of our products will continue to remain loyal to us.”
Nothing is known about the identity of the cyber attackers from the Darknet, to whom there has been no communication for days. The responsible specialists of the Salzburg LKA are continuing to investigate this criminal case, which is why no further information on the content of this can generally be given. The amount of damage caused by the hacker attack can only be determined exactly after it has been fully processed.
