TORONTO — Noting that a resolution to the cyberattack that occurred Nov. 6 will take time and result in some service disruptions, executives with Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. said Nov. 8 they are finding “manual workarounds” to keep operations going.
“This is not something that is unexpected in industry today as much as it’s a scourge of modern technology, but I feel very confident in the team of people that we have in place to ensure the continuity of the business in this situation,” said Michael H. McCain, president and chief executive officer, during a Nov. 8 conference call to discuss third-quarter results.
Maple Leaf Foods has not publicly said what type of an attack occurred or what systems were disrupted. When asked by a securities analyst if the biggest challenges facing the company are in production or shipping, Mr. McCain only responded by saying, “our facilities all ran yesterday (Nov. 7).”
Mr. McCain said the company didn’t run optimally on day one after the attack.
“On day one, I can guarantee that,” he said. “But we all walked away from our calls last night thinking how impressed we were with how much they got done in the matter of one day. And every day, we’ll improve after that.
“So, the short answer is steady as she goes, and, yes, we’re continuing to operate and expected to operate. That was our plan and has been our plan all along as any responsible company prepares for this.”
Mr. McCain would not go into specifics but did say some functions are affected more than others and that the impact is “comprehensive,” but added, “we have workarounds for all of the above.”