Duvel says it has "more than enough" beer after ransomware attack

Duvel Moortgat Brewery was hit by a ransomware attack late last night, bringing to a halt the beer production in the company's bottling facilities.

Duvel is a Belgian beer brand best known for its strong and fruity golden pale ale bearing the same name. The brewery also makes other popular abbey beers such as Vedett, Maredsous, and La Chouffe that are enjoyed all over the world.

Earlier today, a spokersperson for the company told local media that their automated threat detection systems flagged the ransomware attack.

"At 1:30 AM last night, alarms went off in Duvel's IT department because ransomware was detected," stated Ellen Aarts, communications manager at Duvel Moortgat.

"Therefore, production was immediately stopped. It is not yet known when it could restart. We hope to restart today or tomorrow," the company spokesperson added.

Aarts added that even though they have no estimate for when production operations will return to normal, their warehouses are stocked, so there should be no impact on distribution.

Beer enthusiasts on Reddit responded to the incident with humor, calling the situation a "national emergency" and asking for the actual number of "strategic reserves."

Others expressed concern and frustration over potential price increases for specific Duvel beers if production takes a long time to restore to normal.

The company did not clarify if the cyberattack impacts production only at Duvel's main brewery in Breendock or other facilities in Antwerp, Oudenaarde, and Achouffe, too.

No ransomware gangs have claimed responsibility for the attack at Duvel at the time of writing.

BleepingComputer has contacted Duvel to ask for more information about the attack, but a comment wasn't immediately available.

While ransomware attacks often aim at data theft for extortion, the primary consequence in Duvel's situation is the interruption of its brewing operations. At the moment there is no info about the impact of the attack on company data.

Update 3/7 - The attack on Duvel was claimed by the Stormous ransomware group, who claim that they hold 88 GB data stolen from the brewery's systems, threatening to leak it if a ransom isn't paid until March 25, 2024.