The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) has revealed that it has been impacted by a cybersecurity incident, which affected some of its online capabilities.
In a recent Twitter post, the LCBO said that it is responding to a cybersecurity incident that is affecting both its website and its mobile app. However, the agency also clarified that the issue has not affected in-store sales of liquor and wine.
IT World Canada reported that LCBO was still dealing with the cyber issue when it published the tweet and that the LCBO website remains offline.
A Crown corporation, the LCBO generates about $7 billion in annual sales and has about 670 stores across Ontario. LCBO employs some 8,000 employees.
This is not the first time the liquor industry was slammed by a cyber threat.
In 2021, the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) reported that it had suffered a similar debilitating cyber incident on Christmas Day. Months later in April 2022, a hacking group came forward claiming responsibility for the attack, adding that it had copied a terabyte and a half worth of private and sensitive information from the agency.
And in 2020, more than 400 branches of the Ontario-based liquor chain The Beer Store were impacted by a cyberattack which crippled their payment processing capabilities.
