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TORONTO — The Ontario Hashish Retailer says a cyberattack confronted by considered one of its logistics companions has left the provincial pot distributor unable to course of or ship orders to marijuana outlets and clients.
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The OCS mentioned Monday night there isn’t a indication that its programs had been focused or its clients’ data compromised in the course of the Aug. 5 assault on the guardian firm of its third-party distribution centre, Area Logistics.
“Nonetheless, out of an abundance of warning to guard OCS and its clients, the choice was made to close down Area Logistics’ operations till a full forensic investigation may very well be accomplished,” the OCS mentioned in a press release.
Area Logistics didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, however the OCS mentioned it’s working intently with the corporate and third-party cybersecurity consultants to conduct an investigation, which is underway and anticipated to be full inside the coming days.
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The breach stands to affect clients who store for pot on the OCS web site — the one authorized on-line retailer of leisure hashish in Ontario — and roughly 1,333 licensed hashish shops, which haven’t any selection however to purchase the merchandise they promote from the government-backed OCS.
An OCS letter to retailers obtained by The Canadian Press mentioned the launch of any new merchandise scheduled for this week will now be “delayed till additional discover.”
“As a goodwill gesture,” the OCS will even waive all retailer supply charges till Sept. 30 and a $500 processing payment for one emergency order per retailer between Sept. 1 and March 31, 2023.
The OCS and Area Logistics haven’t mentioned how quickly deliveries could also be restarted, however promised to offer updates on the matter as they grew to become accessible.
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The incident follows an OCS announcement Could 11 that the Ontario Provincial Police had been investigating the “misappropriation” of confidential retailer gross sales information.
That breach “was no failure of IT safety or programs,” the OCS mentioned, after it rapidly launched an investigation to establish the supply, restricted entry to inside information stories and notified the police.
Each breaches got here amid heightened competitors in Ontario’s hashish business, which has seen the variety of pot outlets explode in latest months.
Many predict retailer closures are on their approach as a result of demand for hashish has not elevated on the identical price as store openings, the illicit market stays sturdy and shops are constantly having to cut back their margins as rivals steadily drop costs.
