Wave of Cyberattacks Breaches Three Leading Brands

Cyberattacks that once seemed like isolated incidents are now hitting industry giants back-to-back, disrupting operations and exposing sensitive data. This is happening for major brands and should serve as a warning for small businesses across the country, too.

• United Natural Foods (UNFI): The grocery distributor for Whole Foods and over 30,000 retailers had to shut down critical systems after detecting unauthorized access. Ordering stopped, shelves went empty, and losses may reach $400 million.
• Aflac Insurance: Attackers gained entry through social engineering, exposing Social Security numbers, claims data, and personal information. The breach was stopped quickly but still affected millions and shows how fast attackers can pivot.
• Jaguar Land Rover (JLR): A cyber incident forced a global shutdown of IT systems, halting production lines and disrupting dealerships during a peak sales period. While customer data appears safe, the operational paralysis was massive.

Michigan Small Businesses in the Crosshairs

If billion-dollar companies with global resources can be crippled, how would a Michigan manufacturer, healthcare office, or nonprofit fare? The truth is sobering; most small and mid-sized organizations would not recover quickly, if at all.

Smaller businesses don’t have cybersecurity teams, can’t afford weeks of downtime, and don’t have the financial cushion to absorb prolonged losses. For businesses that handle sensitive data, financial records, patient information, and donor details, an incident can also mean regulatory fines and reputational damage that lasts for years.

Cybercrime is no longer a distant threat. These attacks prove it’s accelerating, becoming more targeted, and spreading across industries once thought “safe.”

Yeo & Yeo’s Advice: Urgency Over Complacency

This is not the time to wait and see. Every day without a plan is a day of exposure. Here’s where to act now:

• Strengthen defenses at the human layer. Social engineering remains the easiest way in. Train your staff and enforce phishing-resistant MFA across accounts.
• Know your business-critical systems. Identify which applications, vendors, or platforms would stop operations if compromised.
• Test your incident response. A plan in a binder isn’t enough. Walk through a breach scenario with your leadership team and staff.
• Keep communication ready. Clients, patients, and partners will judge you as much by how you respond as by what was lost.
• Don’t rely on “it won’t happen here.” The attacks on UNFI, Aflac, and JLR show no industry, size, or geography is immune.

Act Before It’s Too Late

Every business owner has to ask: If a cyberattack hits today, how long would we survive offline?

Schedule a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment with Yeo & Yeo.

Uncover vulnerabilities, prepare your staff, and build a practical response plan, so your business isn’t left paralyzed when the next attack makes headlines.