Starbucks Is the Latest Victim of a Ransomware Attack

Starbucks is the victim of a recent ransomware attack. A third-party software vendor used by the coffee chain was hacked, and it has disrupted employees’ ability to view and manage schedules as well as track their hours.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Blue Yonder, a leading global provider of supply chain software, announced Monday that it is actively working to recover services following the attack last week, which disrupted systems hosted for its customers. The company stated that it currently has no estimated timeline for full restoration. Systems operating on public cloud-based platforms were reportedly unaffected by the incident.

The ransomware attack affected around 11,000 stores in North America. Subsequently, it also affected individual stores’ abilities to pay their employees and manage schedules. Per CNN, the coffee giant has had to “shift to manual mode” to pay employees since the attack. A company spokesperson, Jaci Anderson, told CNN that store leaders have “advised their employees on how to work around the outage manually, and the company will make sure everyone gets paid for all hours worked.”

Ransomware attack on Blue Yonder hits Starbucks, affecting ability to track workers' hours https://t.co/GV7suTi3GE

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Starbucks was not the only company affected by the Blue Yonder hack. Blue Yonder is an Arizona-based cloud services provider. Two of the top four grocery chains in the United Kingdom, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, were also affected by the Blue Yonder outage.

The disruption is the latest challenge facing new CEO Brian Niccol. He continues to fight against four consecutive quarters of declining Starbucks sales, but he has a plan.

Ransomware Attack Is the Latest in a Series of Difficulties Starbucks Has Faced

The ransomware attack is the latest in a series of difficulties Starbucks has faced throughout 2024. CEO Brian Niccol addressed the company’s financial decline in a Q4 and fiscal 2024 earnings call. His commentary in shareholder letters and on the earnings call included a flurry of new strategies that could mean better days ahead for the beverage behemoth.

“Our fourth quarter performance makes it clear that we need to fundamentally change our strategy so we can get back to growth and that’s exactly what we are doing with our ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan,” remarked Niccol. “I’ve spent my first several weeks in stores engaging with and listening to feedback from our partners and customers.”

He continued, “It’s clear that Starbucks is a much-loved brand. We need to focus on what has always set us apart — a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas.”

In a video, Niccol also stated, “We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I am confident we can get all these things right at Starbucks. I’m convinced that if we get back to Starbucks — with a focus on coffee and customers combined with a welcoming coffee house experience created by our green apron partners — we will remind people of why they love Starbucks. They will visit more often, and we will return the company to strong growth.”