Vodka maker Stoli files for bankruptcy in US after ransomware attack

<https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/vodka-maker-stoli-files-for-bankruptcy-in-us-after-ransomware-attack/>

'Stoli Group's U.S. companies have filed for bankruptcy following an August
ransomware attack and Russian authorities seizing the company's remaining
distilleries in the country.

As Chris Caldwell, the President and Global Chief Executive Officer of Stoli
USA and Kentucky Owl, the two Stoli Group subsidiaries, said in a Friday
filing, this comes after the August attack severely disrupted its IT systems,
including its enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform.

The cyberattack also forced manual operations across the group, affecting key
processes such as accounting, with full recovery not expected until early 2025.

"In August 2024, the Stoli Group's IT infrastructure suffered severe disruption
in the wake of a data breach and ransomware attack," said Caldwell.

"The attack caused substantial operational issues throughout all companies
within the Stoli Group, including Stoli USA and KO, due to the Stoli Group's
enterprise resource planning (ERP) system being disabled and most of the Stoli
Group's internal processes (including accounting functions) being forced into a
manual entry mode."

Caldwell added that the incident also prevented the Stoli U.S. subsidiaries
from providing financial reports to lenders who claimed the two companies had
defaulted on a $78 million debt.

One month earlier, in July 2024, two distilleries valued at $100 million, the
group's last remaining assets in Russia, were also confiscated in connection
with the designation of the Stoli Group and its founder, Yuri Shefler, as
"extremists."

This designation was related to their humanitarian aid efforts and marketing
campaigns supporting Ukrainian refugees during the ongoing war in Ukraine.'

Via Violet Blue’s Cybersecurity Roundup: December 10, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/cybersecurity-10-117669706

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics