UPDATE
Otter Co-op has not been hacked, insisted CEO Jack Nicholson, after news began to spread about a Federated Co-operatives Ltd. cybersecurity "incident."
"Otter Co-op has not been hit by a computer hack," he said Wednesday afternoon.
The cardlock systems were down for several days starting in late June, but Nicholson reported that as of Wednesday evening, July 3, the cardlock system was back up and functioning.
Otter Co-op is one of the members of the Federated Co-operatives Ltd. which is dealing with an IT hack that has forced the shutdown of cardlock fuel systems, website, and some FCL retail services at its members across Western Canada.
Otter, based in Aldergrove but with stores and gas stations around the region, posted a notification on its Facebook page in late June.
"Federated Co-operatives Limited, which supplies your local co-op, is experiencing a cybersecurity incident that is impacting some customer facing systems at local retail co-ops and cardlock fuel locations. As a precaution, we have shut down some of our systems and brought in third-party experts. An investigation is underway. We regret that this outage has occurred, and we thank Co-op members and customers for their patience as our teams work to resolve the issue," Otter's online statement said.
Another concern related to computer hacks is customer information being stolen.
"In response to questions regarding your data, we have no evidence at this time that consumer data was compromised. If the investigation determines that consumer data was compromised, we will take appropriate action," according to a statement by Federated Co-operatives Ltd.
Nicholson said the story which went online Wednesday morning has customers expressing concern and he emphasized that it was Federated, not Otter, that was hit by the cybersecurity incident.
He said Otter's cardlock customers can obtain fuel, including dyed fuel, at the gas bars, and Otter is still making fuel deliveries at the contracted price. He advised any customers with concerns to reach out to their co-op.
The FCL hack is impacting Otter's website as well as related sites such as www.otterco-op.crs and www.angryotterliquor.crs, www.food.crs, www.co-op.crs, and www.shop.crs. FCL said there may also be issues with inventory for its members.
Based in Saskatoon, FCL is a wholesaling, manufacturing, marketing, and administrative co-operative owned by more than 160 independent local co-operative associations – such as Otter. These local co-ops own and operate agro centres such as Otters feed store, food stores, gas bars, convenience stores, and home centres from British Columbia to Saskatchewan. Otter most recently opened a smaller grocery store in Cloverdale.
FCL provided an update on Wednesday afternoon.
"We are making significant progress in restoring some operations. The cybersecurity incident has slowed down certain aspects of our business, but we are prioritizing key grocery items and consumer goods for delivery to local co-ops. We are working to recover from the incident, but ask for your patience as we continue to build our way back to regular operations," FCL said in its statement.
"Co-op cardlock fuel locations were widely impacted by the cybersecurity incident, but our teams continue to get more cardlocks pumping fuel every day. A main priority is to get all cardlock locations back online as soon as possible. We want to reinforce that fuel supply to co-op retail gas bars has been relatively unaffected, and customers can fill up at all co-op retail locations.
"We again want to thank our co-op members, customers, and the public for your patience and understanding. As a member-owned and community-facing co-operative retailing system, we all appreciate your support now more than ever. We will continue to keep you updated."