Food distributors warn cyberattacks can quickly become supply chain disruptions

Cybersecurity executives are urging foodservice distributors to prepare for cyberattacks as operational disruptions that can affect warehouses, trucks, customer orders and even the physical movement of freight.

The message emerged during “The CISO Perspective: Navigating Cyber Risk in Foodservice Distribution,” a panel at the International Foodservice Distributors Association’s 2026 Solutions Conference in San Antonio.

The session on Monday focused on the growing connections between cybersecurity, transportation, warehouse operations, third-party vendors and business continuity. IFDA described the session as examining how cyberattacks can stop orders, shut down warehouses and jeopardize customer relationships, along with risks involving vendors and ransomware.

Brett Perry, head of cybersecurity and network at Dot Foods Inc. , moderated the discussion. Panelists included Frank Smith, director of information security at The Palmer Family of Cos. , James Cusack, chief information officer at Van Eerden Foodservice, and Jeff Shaffer chief information security officer at Ben E. Keith Co.

One of the central themes was that companies should no longer build cybersecurity programs around the assumption that every attack can be prevented. Instead, Perry and the panelists said companies should focus increasingly on resilience — containing an intrusion before attackers can spread throughout an organization and disrupt critical operations.

“We know identities are going to get stolen. We know bad things are going to happen,” Smith said. “But if we can alert and contain those types of incidents, we’re going to be a much more resilient business without any operational impact.”

That distinction can be particularly important for food distributors, whose operations depend on interconnected warehouse management, transportation, ordering and communications systems.

Unlike businesses whose operations are primarily digital, foodservice distributors also operate warehouses, trucks and other physical infrastructure while coordinating with customers, suppliers and transportation providers. A cyberattack against any part of that network can create downstream consequences.

Cybersecurity executives at the IFDA Solutions Conference urged foodservice distributors to focus on resilience, third-party vulnerabilities and plans for keeping the food supply chain moving when critical technology fails.

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) A hacked carrier can become a cargo theft problem The executives said companies also need to look beyond their own networks because vulnerabilities at suppliers, technology vendors and transportation partners can expose the distributor.

One example discussed during the panel involved a third-party carrier whose email system was compromised. The attackers used information obtained through the carrier to arrange a fraudulent pickup. A truck arrived at a cold-storage facility with the correct paperwork and picked up a load of blueberries.

The problem: The truck wasn’t actually working for the carrier. “There goes a load of blueberries. Gone,” Shaffer said. The incident illustrated how a cybersecurity breach involving a transportation provider can become a physical cargo theft — even if the food distributor’s own systems were never initially compromised.

An International Foodservice Distributors Association’s cybersecurity panel highlighted how a hacked carrier’s email helped thieves fraudulently pick up a load of fresh produce, illustrating the growing connection between cybercrime and physical freight theft. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Warehouse technology creates other vulnerabilities.

Security cameras, handheld devices, access-control systems and other connected equipment can provide additional points of entry into networks. The panelists recommended practices including network segmentation, least-privilege access and zero-trust security, under which users and devices continue to be verified after gaining access to a network.

Those protections can create friction for warehouse and transportation employees, however. “When security goes up, I can almost guarantee you from an operational standpoint, convenience is going down,” a panelist said.

That means cybersecurity changes also require communication and change management so employees understand why additional authentication or other security measures are necessary. The executives said security controls shouldn’t simply be viewed as obstacles to productivity.

Properly designed controls can instead provide guardrails allowing employees to use technology more confidently. Artificial intelligence creates another dimension to that challenge.

Companies need to consider three questions surrounding AI, the panelists said: how to secure employees’ use of AI, how to use AI to improve cybersecurity and how to protect their businesses against attackers using AI. Data itself is increasingly the target Another major concern is the sheer volume of information companies retain. B