Over 126,000 people are receiving notifications from food wholesaler Sysco Corporation that a recent breach resulted in the compromise of their personal information. One of the biggest suppliers of food items, kitchenware, small ware, and tabletop items to restaurants, lodging facilities, healthcare and educational institutions, and other organizations, Sysco is an international corporation with its headquarters in Houston, Texas.
The data breach was discovered on March 5, 2023, but the company first made the incident public in early May in a Form 10-Q filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At that time, it was revealed that the attackers most likely gained unauthorized access to its systems on January 14, 2023. According to the corporation, the attackers stole information about “the operation of the business, customers, employees, and personal data” during that period.
The food distributor is now notifying current and past workers that personal data like names, Social Security numbers, account numbers, and other data submitted for payroll reasons may have been exposed in the data breach. According to the letter sent to the affected workers, “the threat actor gained access to our systems without authorization and claimed to have acquired certain data.” This shows that a ransomware assault may have been the cause.
Sysco claims that the assault had no effect on its core business processes or operational systems and did not cause any service disruptions. In addition, the business claims it alerted law police to the attack and is still looking into what happened.
Although the corporation informed the Maine Attorney General’s Office that more than 126,000 people were affected, no more information about the data breach is included in the notification letter given to the affected individuals. As a result of this occurrence, Sysco might be subject to a class action lawsuit. The consumer rights law firm Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz said last week that it is looking into the data leak on behalf of the people who were affected.
