Sobeys data breach serves as wake up call for industry: expert

A recent data breach involving Sobeys exposed a larger issue in Canada’s agri-food sector, an expert said.

Sylvain Charlebois, a food researcher and professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said the industry has been particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks in recent weeks.

He said this most recent incident, which Sobeys says has now been resolved, will serve as a bit of a wake-up call for the country’s agri-food sector because of the high-value, low-margin nature of the industry.

“The stakes are so much higher for Sobeys because it’s a front-facing company, they’re dealing with customers, so if there’s a breach in their databases and some of the security is compromised, you’ve got some personal data that is likely to be shared now,” Charlebois said.

“You can’t miss a beat and hackers know it.”

Sobeys has only referred to the incident as a week of “IT system issues”, and has yet to confirm that it was due to a cyber attack.

However, two provincial privacy watchdogs said Thursday they had received data breach reports from Sobeys.

Both Quebec’s Access to Information Commission and Alberta’s Privacy Commission were both notified by the grocer of a “confidentiality incident.”

Quebec’s access to information commission said confidentiality incidents occur when there is unauthorized access, use or loss of personal information or any other breach of the protection of this information.

This is not the only confidentiality incident that has happened to a Canadian agri-food company recently.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. was hit by a cyber security attack over the weekend that affected operations early in the week.

An even bigger cybersecurity attack was launched on Alberta-based meat supplier JBS and JBS Canada in 2021, resulting in the company paying a ransom of US$11 million in Bitcoin.

In October, the national supply chain task force released a final report recommending that Canada’s cybersecurity strategy address the risks to transportation supply chains for critical commodities.

Issues at Empire-operated pharmacies, including Sobeys, Safeway and Lawtons Drugs, were first reported over the weekend, and some locations in Halifax had signs on Tuesday warning customers of the ongoing technical problem.

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Empire remains silent on IT problems that have affected Sobeys, other stores

Sobeys spokeswoman Sarah Dawson said that Sobeys locations across the country are open and serving customers and that the pharmacy locations are back in full operation as they work to restock shelves.

At the federal level, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said it is in communication with the company to obtain more information and determine next steps.

Customers may find shelves understocked for weeks to come because of the technical breach, Charlebois said.

When asked if issues had been resolved, Dawson said “although not without some ongoing challenges, our network is flowing very well.”

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