Sales at New Brunswick’s liquor and cannabis stores disrupted by cybersecurity threat

The Crown corporation that runs New Brunswick's liquor and cannabis stores says it had to shut down all of its debit and credit card machines last week after it detected a cybersecurity threat, forcing all customers to pay with cash. The exterior of a Cannabis NB retail store is shown in Fredericton on Tuesday, Oct.16, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Stephen MacGillivray

FREDERICTON -- New Brunswick’s liquor and cannabis stores had to shut down their debit and credit card machines last week after detecting a cybersecurity threat, and the problem has yet to be fixed.

Florence Gouton, a spokesperson for NB Liquor, said “some anomalies” were found Jan. 7 and external experts were called in to investigate, but much of the payment system remained off-line on Friday.

“We were able to open stores for cash transactions only,” Gouton said in an emailed statement from the Crown corporation. “That remains the case today.”

Gouton said the investigation is continuing, but she said NB Liquor and Cannabis NB were gradually restoring their systems as a technical team worked around the clock.

“It is not simply a matter of turning the systems back on, but rather restoring the systems in a sequence and order that makes sense to the business and minimizes disruption to our customers and partners,” she said.

Gouton said the corporation was not hit by a ransomware attack, and she said there was no impact on customers' personal information.

But she did not disclose details about what went wrong in what it described this week as a “potential cyber threat”, saying the corporation will not be offering interviews as its investigation continues.

In her statement, Gouton said NB Liquor apologizes for the inconvenience experienced by customers, suppliers and agency partners.

NB Liquor operates a network of stores in 29 communities across the province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2025.