A major cyber-attack may see shops, cinemas and pubs run out of some of Britain's most popular crisps within days.
A ransomware attack on KP Snacks means that Hula Hoops, McCoy's, Nik Naks, Butterkist, Skips, Tyrrells and KP Nuts could soon be in short supply.
KP says its IT systems have been crippled by the hackers which will likely lead to supply problems until "the end of March at the earliest" as the company "cannot safely process orders or dispatch goods."
Even the humble Pom-Bears aren't safe, as hackers are holding KP Snacks to ransom by locking them out of their snack management systems and demanding payment.
If KP doesn't cough up, the hackers could release stolen information from the KP mainframe to the public.
"On Friday 28 January we became aware that we were unfortunately victims of a ransomware incident,” said KP Snacks in a statement.
“As soon as we became aware of the incident, we enacted our cybersecurity response plan and engaged a leading forensic information technology firm and legal counsel to assist us in our investigation.
Thirsty drinkers are likely to be the worst hit, with many pubs around the country relying exclusively on KP Snacks. Drinks are just too wet without them.
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It's the second time snacks have fallen foul of the digital world in recent months. In October, Walkers faced crisp shortages all the way up to Christmas because of IT issues.
In December, Sainsbury's workers almost faced a payday crisis after the Kronos ransomware attack targeted payroll systems, which nearly resulted in people having no money for Christmas.
Meanwhile, the company behind Spar was hit by a cyber attack which forced many independent corner shops across the north to close.
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Ransomware is a collective term for apps which extort money from users with the threat to release private information or wipe data from a device.
Once it takes over a system it will lock you out and then threaten to either delete the data or release private information publicly if the victim doesn't cough up hundreds or even thousands of pounds, usually paid in the untraceable cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.
If KP Snacks can't get their act together and fix the problem, it might be time to try a different snack. Pringle's, anyone?
- Pubs
- Technology
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