Production has come to a standstill at four breweries owned by Belgian beer company Duvel following a cyber-attack.

The company reported falling victim to a suspected ransomware attack “during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.”

Initially, five production facilities were shut down, with one subsequently resuming operations. Duvel is currently unable to provide additional details “as the investigation into the cause of the cyber-attack is ongoing.”

In a statement, the company stated, “The built-in command systems and alarms in the IT-system worked well, so our IT department was immediately informed of the attack.” The servers were promptly shut down, leading to the cessation of production at the four Belgian sites and the Kansas City production site.

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Although the Puurs-Sint-Amands plant in Belgium has returned to normal operation, production at the remaining four sites remains halted. Duvel, known for brands like Chouffe, Vedett, and Liefmans, generated €583 million (£497 million) in revenue in 2022, producing approximately 230 million liters of beer. The impact on product supply following this incident is yet to be determined.

While addressing local media, Duvel confirmed that it was indeed a ransomware attack, wherein hackers demand payment to avoid blocking or leaking files.