Retailer Faces Ransomware Attack While Using Ancillary Vendor Services for Payment Processing

The Challenge

RiverGate Retail, a mid-sized Canadian retailer, discovered that one of its ancillary service vendors responsible for payment processing was hit by a ransomware attack. Transaction systems were temporarily unavailable, and the retailer faced potential disruption in:

revenue collection

compliance breaches under PIPEDA

reputational damage.

The incident highlighted the risks of over-reliance on third-party services without comprehensive monitoring and incident response planning.

Our Solution

Our Ancillary and Value-adding Services team provided RiverGate Retail with targeted risk mitigation support:

Conducted a rapid incident assessment to determine the impact and affected systems.

Coordinated with the vendor to implement containment, recovery, and continuity measures.

Developed a business continuity plan for ancillary services, including failover processes.

Enhanced incident response protocols to account for third-party service disruptions.

Provided executive reporting and risk assessment for potential financial and operational consequences.

The Value

Reduced downtime and ensured continuity of payment processing during the ransomware incident.

Strengthened third-party monitoring and incident response capabilities.

Mitigated financial and reputational impact from vendor-related disruptions.

Enhanced organizational preparedness for future third-party cyber incidents.

Implementation Roadmap

Incident Assessment: Identify scope, affected systems, and operational impact.

Vendor Coordination: Collaborate with vendor to contain and remediate the attack.

Continuity Planning: Implement failover and backup payment processing strategies.

Incident Response Enhancement: Update response protocols to include third-party scenarios.

Executive Reporting: Provide actionable insights for management and board.

Continuous Improvement: Review lessons learned and update ancillary service monitoring.

Info Sheet

Necessary Action Type and Steps: Incident assessment, vendor coordination, business continuity planning, incident response enhancement, executive reporting.

Sector: Retail Trade

Applicable Legislation: PIPEDA, Canadian cybersecurity laws.

Third Parties: Payment processing vendor, IT security consultants, incident response teams.