NATION Cadbury factory’s viral hit

CADBURY has been forced to halt production in Tasmania after its computer systems were felled by the cyber attack sweeping the world.

Production ground to a halt at Cadbury’s Hobart factory when parent company, Spanish food giant Mondelez, was hit by the Petya computer virus that erupted in Europe and quickly spread to a host of multinational companies.

The Australian arms of delivery company TNT and law firm DLA Piper were also caught up in the attack, which experts fear will spread and be more difficult to conquer than the WannaCry ransomware virus that infected 300,000 computers worldwide in May.

It could be days before production resumes at the factory, which produces about 50,000 tonnes of chocolate a year and employs 500 workers.

Mondelez, which recently sold Vegemite to Bega Cheese but still makes lollies under the Natural Confectionary Co brand as well as Oreo biscuits and Philadelphia cream cheese in Australia, confirmed its international IT network was down.

“Limited production is still running at some of our five sites across Australia and New Zealand,” a spokesman said.

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Cyber Security Dan Tehan confirmed two Australian companies had been affected.

“The virus seems to have been targeted at Europe and has impacted large organisations there and some government departments as well,” he said.

The Federal Government’s Australian Cyber Security Centre has offered help to the companies hit.

Banks, airports and the state power company in Ukraine were among the first hit by the Petya virus, followed by Russia’s biggest oil firm Rosneft.